MR. LEEDS TELLS A STORY.
Mr. Leeds arrived the next day and, shortly before
supper time, Clara met the boys in the parlor
of the hotel and insisted that they come over to their
cottage and meet him. They were somewhat surprised
to find him a man well past fifty, as they had
thought of him as much younger. As he rose to
greet them they noticed that he was very lame in his
right leg and he did not look as though he was in
good health.
"These are the boys who pulled me out of the
drink," Clara introduced them.
A most engaging smile lighted up the man's face
as he held out both hands toward them.
"I feel that I know you already," he said. "Clara
has not talked of anything else since I got here and
her mother has run her a close second. I--I hardly
know where to begin in expressing my feelings to
you. You see, she is all we have and--and--"
In spite of himself his voice broke and Bob quickly
filled in the gap.
"Please do not try, sir. We both know how you
feel and really it was nothing."
"Well, I like that," Clara declared.
Bob's face turned the color of a ripe tomato,
according to Jack's statement made later, and he
stammered:
"I--I didn't mean it that way, I--I----"
"I suppose you meant that it was nothing unusual
for you to save a girl from the briny deep," Clara
interrupted.
"Only it wasn't briny," Mrs. Leeds laughed and
her laughter, in which they all joined, did much to
relieve the situation.
"Maine is a great state, the greatest in the Union."
It was nearly half past eleven o'clock and the boys
were sitting with Mr. Leeds on the porch of the
latter's cottage. Mrs. Leeds and Clara had retired
and the boys had started to take their departure, but
Mr. Leeds had begged them to keep him company
a while longer and it was he who made the above
statement.
"You don't have to tell us that," Jack assured
him.
"I suppose not. You see, I was born here, that is,
in this state away up north in a little place called
Matagamon. There were only about twenty people
there then and I don't suppose there are many more
now. I don't imagine you ever heard of it."
"Oh, yes, we have, although we've never been
there," Jack assured him. "Isn't it on the East
Branch of the Penobscot?"
"It sure is. It's been nearly thirty years since I
have been there, but there isn't much territory
within a radius of fifty miles from the place that I
didn't know back in those days. It was pretty wild
country then and, for that matter, I guess it is now."
"I'll bet you had lots of adventures," Jack ventured.
"Well, yes, I suppose you would call them that.
I owe this game leg to a bear."
"Oh, please tell us about it," Jack said as he
paused.
"Well, if it isn't too late and you care to hear
it----"
"It's never too late for us to hear a real bear
story," Bob laughed, as he hesitated.
"To begin at the beginning, then, I'll have to tell
you of an old legend which the old folks used to
tell us children when I was very small. It seems
that nearly three hundred years ago a small tribe
of Indians had their dwelling place up near what is
now called Big Machias Lake. By the way, the only
big thing about the lake is its name, as it isn't more
than a mile long. In fact, it is really nothing more
than a widening of the Big Machias River.
"They were called the Tutehonekut'qin Indians
and, it was believed that they had made their way
overland from the Yukon River in Alaska, as there
used to be a tribe of that name there."
"I wonder if they were any relation to King Tut
of Egypt," Jack interrupted.
"Maybe," Mr. Leeds laughed. "At any rate, they
were not poor relations for, according to the legend,
they were possessed of almost fabulous wealth, gold
and precious stones, being as common as are iron and
glass with us."
"But where did they get them?" Bob asked.
"Well, if there was any truth in it, they must, of
course, have brought their wealth with them from
far off Alaska. But gold and jewels they had in
abundance. But the pride of the tribe was Rippling
Water, the daughter of Mato-wopa-geya, chief of
the tribe. She must have been a wonderful girl.
Straight and supple as a young sapling, with a
wealth of raven black hair, she could outrun and
out-paddle any of the braves of the tribe, so the legend
ran.
"But one day trouble, unbeknown to them, appeared
in the person of a young brave from another
tribe. He came, he saw and was conquered in so
far as the maid was concerned, but, alas, he did not
conquer. Rippling Water's heart had, for many
moons, been in the keeping of Wawiekumig, a young
brave of her own tribe, and she turned a deaf ear
to the wooing of the stranger. Unfortunately, the
strange brave, being the son of a mighty chief, had
always had his own way and, instead of accepting
her refusal as a gentleman, he went away vowing
revenge. Nor was it long in coming. Before
another moon had passed a band of warriors,
outnumbering the Tutehonekut'qui many times, fell upon
them and wiped them from the face of the earth."
"Did they kill the girl?" Jack asked.
"The legend states that she was the only one left
alive and she was dragged away by the stranger.
But it also states that she died soon after and that
often, on a moonlight night, her spirit has been seen
and heard bewailing the fate of her people."
"Did they get the gold and jewels?" Bob asked.
"According to the legend they did not."
"Then what became of it?"
"It was hidden in a cave and to find that cave
was my mission when I met the bear. You'll
probably think I was very foolish to take any stock in
an old legend but, as a matter of fact, I had rather
more than that to go on and I was only seventeen.
You see, about a year before I had gotten acquainted
with an old Indian, who lived all by himself on the
shore of Chesuncook Lake. His name was Aquqarenuts,
meaning cross feathers, and it happened
in this way. I was up there on a hunting trip with
my father, late in the fall, and we came upon the
old man's cabin purely by accident and found him
very sick with pneumonia. We stayed and nursed
him and he lived. He was very grateful and it was
the following summer while I was staying a few
days with him that he told me the legend I have
told you. Of course, I had heard it before, but the
old Indian declared that he knew it to be true and,
needless to say, his words made a deep impression
on my mind, especially when he assured me that he
was a descendant of Wawiekumig, who, he declared,
had escaped the massacre. It was a few months
later, during another visit, that he told me of the
hidden treasure. It seems that the knowledge of
the hiding place had been handed down from one
generation to another."
"Had he never looked for it?" Bob asked as he
paused.
"He said he had not, explaining that gold would
be of no use to him. But he, insomuch as he was
the last of his race, offered to take me to the place
and help me recover it. You can imagine how eagerly
I accepted the offer. It was, he said, in a cave
on the shore of Big Machias Lake. There was but
one entrance to the cave and that was under water
and one had to dive and swim through to get in."
"No wonder it was never found," Jack declared.
"Big Machias Lake is about eighty miles to the
north of Chesuncook through the unbroken wilderness
and we planned to be gone two weeks. Twenty
miles a day through those woods was a good day's
work, and he assured me that it would take several
days to get the gold-and jewels out.
"For three days everything went well and, when
we camped that night, he assured me that we would
reach the lake the next day. But when I awoke the
following morning, Aquqarenuts was gone. His
blanket was there on the ground beside me and, so
far as I could see, he had taken nothing with him,
not even his rifle. At first I thought nothing of it,
supposing that he had merely gone a short distance
for some purpose and would soon be back. But
when an hour had passed and he had not returned,
I began to feel uneasy, and at the end of another
hour I started out to look for him. I didn't find him
and I never saw him again."
"But what happened?" Bob asked.
"That I never knew. All that day I searched and
at night I was about the most worried and tired boy
you ever saw. No, I never knew what became of
him. Sometimes I have thought that he might have
repented telling me about the hidden treasure but,
inasmuch as he had already described the place so
that I could hardly help finding if, I hardly think it
likely. No, I prefer to think that some wild beast
killed him and dragged him off to his lair, although
I confess it hardly seems possible.
"Well, I debated with myself until long into the
night, whether to go on and try to find the place by
myself or to give it up and go back. I was well
versed in forest lore and did not doubt my ability
to find my way back. But finally I determined that I
would try to find the lake, seeing that I was so near
and there was always the hope that the Indian would
come back. So I started early in the morning and
was making fairly good time in spite of hard
traveling, when, suddenly, after pushing through a dense
clump of bushes, I came face to face with an enormous
black bear. I know they say that a bear will run
from a man, but this one must have been untrained
in the way a bear should act when meeting a man
for, with a deep roar she charged straight for me.
Of course, she may have had a cub somewhere and
that would explain her action, but I didn't see any
and don't believe there was one. My rifle was
strapped to my back and she was almost on me when
I got it pointed and pulled the trigger. But she
didn't stop and before I had time to fire again she
had given me a cuff with her huge paw which sent
me flying end over end. But my shot had pierced
her heart and the blow was her last effort. As I
picked myself up I was conscious of an intense pain
in my right hip where the bear had hit me and to
my dismay I found that I was unable to bear any
weight on it. That it was broken I had little doubt.
Imagine my situation. To be sure I was much nearer
home than the place from which we had set out, but
it was all of forty miles away and probably nearer
fifty, and, to the best of my knowledge, there was
not a soul any nearer. Fortunately I had food
enough to last me for several days, so there was no
danger of starving for the present at least. But I
had no water, as we did not carry any, depending
on brooks and springs for our supply.
"It was not a cheerful situation, but I did not lose
heart. I found that the only way in which I could
move was to hitch along on my left side and even
so every movement caused me intense pain. But I
remembered crossing a small brook about a mile back
and I was resolved to reach it, if possible. I
suppose I was an hour making a hundred yards.
Remember, I had to drag my pack along with me and
it was by no means a light one.
"That journey has always been a nightmare to
me, but I am not going to worry you with the
details. It was nearly dark when finally I reached the
brook and never since have I tasted anything as
good as that water. As you can imagine, I was
very tired and, in spite of the throbbing pain in my
hip, I fell asleep there by the side of the stream and
it was broad daylight when I awoke.
"I knew that I was in a serious position. To
reach home in my condition was plainly out of the
question. It had taken me the better part of a day
to cover a mile and at that rate it would take a
month or more to reach home, and long before that
my supply of food would run out. Now my only hope
seemed to be to remain where I was, by the side
of the brook, and trust that some hunter would find
me while I was still alive. Fortunately I had a good
supply of ammunition for my rifle and I decided
that I would fire a shot at intervals of two hours.
"The pain in my hip had now subsided to a dull
ache, although every movement still gave me intense
pain, so I kept as still as possible, moving only when
I was obliged to. Well, it must be getting late, so
I'll have to cut my story short. I was there a week
before two hunters, from my own town, found me.
They were three days getting me home and it was
another day before we could get a doctor. He set
my hip and, under the circumstances, I guess he did
as good a job as was possible, but I never walked
straight again."
"And you never went back to look for the cave?"
Bob asked.
"No, it was a long time before I could walk at
all, but I told another fellow about it and he found
it, the cave, I mean, but there was no gold there."
"And did the Indian ever turn up?" Jack asked.
"No. It has always been a mystery what became
of him."
Just then a clock in the cabin struck one and the
boys started up with an exclamation of surprise.
"Gracious, I didn't know it was so late," Bob
said. "Thanks for the story. Come on, Jack, we
must beat it."
"Just a minute," Mr. Leeds said, as they were
about to start off. "When I said that Maine was
the greatest state in the Union, of course, I was not
referring to its size."
"I know there are other states larger," Bob
acknowledged somewhat grudgingly. "I suppose
Texas is quite a lot bigger."
"Well, slightly," Mr. Leeds laughed. "In fact,
few people this way have any idea as to its size.
Perhaps you will appreciate it when I tell you that
eight states of the size of Maine could be very
comfortably placed in Texas."
"Great guns, do you mean that?" Jack exploded.
"Figure it out for yourself," Mr. Leeds laughed.
"Maine has 33,040 square miles of territory and
Texas has 265,896."
"Some state," Jack gasped.
"Were you ever in the state?" Bob asked.
"Many times. In fact, I own a fairly large cattle
ranch out there."
"What's its name?" Bob asked.
"We call it the Lazy S."
"That's rather a funny name," Jack suggested.
"Many ranches out that way have queer names,"
Mr. Leeds told them.
"This one takes its name from a small river which
runs through it. You see, it is curved in the shape
of an S and the country is so flat there that there is
but a very slight current; in fact, it is only about a
half a mile an hour."
"I'd sure like to see it, the ranch, I mean," Jack
declared.
"I don't see why you can't," Mr. Leeds told him.
"Texas is a long way from here," Bob sighed as
they again said good night.
When, five minutes later, Bob snapped on the
light in their room, he looked at Jack and Jack
looked at him.
"Well?"
"Of course," Jack replied.
"Of course what?"
"Of course we're going to Texas."
"Who said so?"
"You did."
"I never mentioned it."
"Not in words, perhaps, but you looked at me,
didn't you?"
"I guess you're a mind reader, all right," Bob
laughed. "To tell the truth, I was wondering how
you felt about it."
"Well, you know now, I reckon," Jack grinned.
"It would be wonderful," Bob mused. "I've always
had a longing to see a real sure enough ranch."
"Same here. Any reason why we shouldn't go?"
"I don't know of any, that is, unless father objects
and I don't know why he should."
"Well, he'll be back to-morrow and we can ask
him," Jack declared as he turned out the light and
tumbled in to bed.