they wake up; and if I do kill somethin', pa will be so pleased an'
proud he'll forgive me.' He little thought then he was leavin' home
forever. He opened the door softly, an' in half an hour he was off on
the mountain, 'longside of a great big lake. Pretty soon he heard a
sound, and through the darkness he see two big eyes, flamin' like fire,
a-lookin' at where he was. _It was that moose up there as was a-lookin'
at him._ For a minute he was scart to death, but he soon recovered,
upped with his gun, an' fired--only he was too excited, and he didn't do
any more than graze the moose's cheek. You can't see the scar. It's been
mended. It was a tarrable exciting moment, for in a jiffy the moose was
after him, head down. Pop tried to run, but couldn't. He stumbled, an'
just as he stumbled he felt the big moose's breath hot on the back of
his neck. He thought he was a goner for sure; but he wasn't, as it
turned out, for as he rolled over and the moose tried to butt him to
death, pop grabbed holt of his horns, and the first toss of his head the
moose gave landed pop right between 'em, sittin' down as comfortably
fixed as though he was in a rockin'-chair. If you'll look at the antlers
you'll see how there's a place in between 'em scooped out just right for
a small boy to sit in. That's where pop sat, hangin' on to those two
upper prongs, with, his legs dangling down over the moose's cheeks."
"Phe-e-e-ew!" whispered Bob. "He was in a fix, wasn't he? What did the
moose do?"
[Illustration]
"Him?" said Sandboys. "He was absolutely flummoxed for a minute, and
then he began to run. Pop held on. He had to. He didn't want to go
travellin', but there warn't anything else he could do, so he kept holt.
That moose run steady for three days, down over the Canadian border into
Maine, takin' a short-cut over Maine into New Hampshire, droppin' dead
with weariness two miles from Littleton, where I cum from. That let pop
out. The moose was dead, and he wasn't afraid any more; so he climbed
down, walked into Littleton, and sold the animal's carkiss to a man
there, who cut off its head, and sent it up here to this hotel, an' it's
been here ever since. Pop took the money and tried to get back home with
it; but there wasn't enough, so he worked about Littleton until he had
enough; and just then he met my mother, fell in love with her, married
her, and settled down right there; and that's how it is that that
moose-head is responsible for my bein' here. If the animal hadn't run
away with dad, he'd never have met my mother, and I'd have been
nowhere."
"It's very interesting," said Bob. "But I should think he'd have sent
word to his father that he was all right."
"Oh, he did," said Sandboys; "and a year or two later the whole family
came down and joined him, leavin' Canady and its French names forever."
And here the narrative, which might have been much longer, stopped, for
the cross old lady near the elevator sent word that that "talkin' must
stop," because while it was "goin' on" she "couldn't hear what tune it
was the trumpeter was blowin'."
THE GAME OF CHOLE.
BY W. G. VAN TASSEL SUTPHEN.
Chole (pronounced sh[=o]l) is a capital game for the
enthusiastic golfer at this time of year, when the fields are brown and
bare, and the careful green-keeper has closed the regular golf course
for fear of harm to his precious putting greens. It is golf, and yet it
is not golf, the essential difference being that but one ball is used,
one player striving to advance it towards a certain agreed-upon goal,
and his opponent as strenuously endeavoring to thwart him in the
attempt. But, on the other hand, it is not hockey or anything resembling
it. Each player has for the time being absolute possession of the ball,
and cannot be interfered with while he is making his stroke. It is an
old Belgian game, and undoubtedly one of the ancestors of our modern
golf. As a matter of fact, it is still played in the Low Countries with
rude iron clubs and an egg-shaped ball of birchwood. The following
extract from a historical paper on the beginnings of golf explains very
clearly the purpose and method of the play at chole:
If Tom Morris and Hugh Kircaldy were going to play a match at
_chole_, they would first fix on an object which was to be hit. A
church door at some five miles distance, cross country, seems to
have been a favorite goal. This settled on, match-making began--a
kind of game of brag: "I will back myself to hit the thing in five
innings," Tom might say. (We will explain in a moment what an
"innings" meant.) "Oh, I'll back myself to hit it in four," Hugh
might answer. "Well, I'll say three, then," Tom might perhaps say,
and that might be the finish of the bragging, for Hugh might not
feel it in his power to do it in two, so he must let Tom try. Then
Tom would hit off, and when he came to the ball he would tee it and
hit it again, and so a third time. But when they reached the ball
this third time, it would be no longer Tom's turn to hit, but
Hugh's. He would be allowed to tee the ball up and _dechole_, as it
was called--that is to say, to hit it _back_ again as far as he
could. Then Tom would begin again and have three more shots towards
the object; after which Hugh would again have one shot back. Then
if in the course of his third innings of three shots Tom were to
hit the church door, he would win the match; if he failed, he would
lose it.
It is evident, from this explanation, that _chole_ gives first-class
practice in driving; in fact it is nothing but a succession of tee
shots, and the longest driver ought always to win, unless he is so
over-confident of his powers that he is induced to bid too low for the
honor of being _choleur_. It may be added that hazards in the _lie_ of
the ball are not fairly a part of the game. Each striker has a right to
tee his ball, and he should be allowed to do so anywhere within two
club-lengths of where the ball has dropped. In the case of a lost ball
or a ball in water, the player must go back to the place whence the lost
ball was struck, and play a new one, without penalty. Of course only a
driver, or play club, is carried, and a caddie is not necessary, as the
players themselves should be able to keep track of the ball. In Belgium
the game is played with three or more on a side, but in this case the
players have to wait too long for their turn to strike, and the interest
must be correspondingly diminished. Here is a better plan for a match
game at _chole_:
[Illustration: DIAGRAM OF THE FIELD.]
The battle-ground should be a field of about 400 yards in length, the
fence at either end serving as the goal over which the ball is to be
driven. The width of the field is of no account, providing that there is
a clear space of at least fifty yards to give a chance for straight and
open play. In practice it might be well to roughly indicate these
side-lines by means of stakes, and if the ball is knocked out of bounds
it must be brought back precisely as in football. Supposing that there
are six on a side, the most skilful player should act as captain, and
arm himself with the ordinary wooden driver. The second man should carry
a brassey, the third a cleek, the fourth a lofter, the fifth a niblick,
and the sixth a putter. Or there may be any other selection among the
ordinary clubs used at golf, provided that each side is armed with
virtually the same weapons, and, most important of all, that every
combination must at least include a driver, a lofter, and a putter.
Three is the smallest practicable number for a side, and the maximum may
be put down at six or seven. The object of each side is to drive the
ball over their adversary's goal-line, but the strokes are taken in
turn, and there is nothing resembling the free hitting and scramble of
hockey. The captains toss for the opening stroke, and the winner tees
the ball at the centre of the field, and strikes it with his driver as
far as possible towards the enemy's goal-line. After he has had his
stroke, it is the turn of the other side; and now comes in the essential
point of the game. The return shot must be made by the _weakest_ club on
the opposing side, _viz._, the putter. The idea is that the players
shall all strike in regular rotation, but the _order_ of the sides is
exactly opposite. In other words, one side strikes in succession with
driver, brassey, cleek, lofter, niblick, and putter, their opponents
answering with putter, niblick, lofter, cleek, brassey, and driver. It
is evident that if A leads off their attack will grow weaker as the less
powerful clubs come into play, while B, the defence, will grow stronger
in the same proportion. Theoretically, after a full exchange of shots
the ball should be again at the centre of the field from where it
started, but of course, in practice, accidents will happen and shots
will be foozled.
The field should be long enough to give the defence a fair chance to
rally, and it therefore should not be less than 400 yards in all. It
should not be much longer, as then it would hardly be possible for
ordinary players to ever get near enough for a goal. Supposing that in
actual play the Captain of the Blues drives off and sends the ball 130
yards out of the 200, the putter on the Red side must reply, and he may
succeed in driving the ball back 30 yards. Brassey of the Blues has now
a carry of 100 yards to make to put the ball over the fence and win a
goal. If he does it, it is perfect play, and the Blues are credited with
one point. But if he tops his ball or drives short, the niblick man of
the Reds may get it back to, say, the 100-yard point, and the Blues have
now a chance with the cleek to get it over. If this attempt fails, the
Red goal should be out of danger for a while, for their long driving
clubs are now coming into play to carry the war into Africa. But at any
stage of the game some one may slip up on a difficult shot, and so the
advantage be gained or lost. The exact size of the field will largely
depend upon the driving ability of the players, and that can only be
arrived at by experiment. Theoretically, the goal should be made on the
third or cleek shot--that is, with perfect play on each side. Of course
only the captains have the privilege of teeing the ball; all the other
players must take it as it lies. A ball knocked into a hazard must be
played as in match-play at golf; but if it has not been extricated after
_each_ side has taken a shot at it, it may be lifted and dropped a
club-length outside of the hazard at a point agreed upon between the two
captains. A ball in a hazard may not be teed, and this gives a chance
for finesse. For instance, suppose that the ball is perilously near the
Red goal, and it is Red putter's turn to play. With a straight drive he
can only get it a few yards back, and Blue driver, whose turn it is to
follow, will be almost certain to get it over. But if Red putter can
play it into a hazard or behind a tree, Blue driver will probably fail
to make the goal, and that will give the Reds another chance. Other
variations will occur in the playing of the game, and may be readily
worked out by any boy with a turn for generalship. After each point the
sides change goals, so as to equalize the chances of the hazards, and
the side that has lost the goal drives off. A ball driven _through_ or
_under_ the goal-fence does not count for either side. It must be
brought out to a point half-way distant between the centre of the field
and the point where it went over the goal-line, and there teed for the
player whose turn it is to strike. A ball over the side-line is brought
inside, as in football, and dropped a club-length from the line. In the
case of a lost ball, the inning begins again as though no play had been
made. A player may not strike the ball back over or through his own
goal-line. If he does so, accidentally or otherwise, the ball is brought
out and teed precisely as in the former case, where the attacking player
had failed to put it fairly over.
The game may be made still more scientific and interesting if a regular
field be laid out with chalk lines, as in football. In this case the
goal at each end should be a circular pit six feet in diameter and six
inches deep. The diagram gives the other proportions and the general
arrangement of the field. The "vantage"-lines indicate the spot where
the ball is to be teed in the case of a failure of a try for goal. There
is no restriction upon the direction in which the ball may be played,
except in the case of a player who knocks it over his own goal-line. The
ball is then teed at "vantage." Balls out of bounds are placed on the
side-line at the crossing-point. To make a goal, the ball must drop in
the pit and stay there.
It is evident that the interest of the game will depend upon the
evenness with which the players are matched. As a general thing a player
should be assigned to the club which he is most expert in handling, and
the players are known by the names of the clubs they carry. In no case
must the rotation of play be altered, and _driver_ always leads off at
the beginning of an inning. It would be possible for two men to play the
game, using their clubs in the prescribed rotation, but the match
between sides gives a chance for more interesting work. If the sides are
uneven, one man may, by special agreement, be allowed to play two clubs.
THE PIRATE'S TREASURE.
BY CAPTAIN HOWARD PATTERSON.
"Ralph," said Grandfather Sterling, one hot August morning, looking over
the veranda rail to where the boy was stretched full length upon the
lawn, "did I ever tell you about the time that I went hunting for a
treasure that had been buried by a pirate on one of the islands in the
West Indies?"
The lad came bounding up the steps in delight, for there was no greater
treat to him than one of the old sea-captain's stories concerning the
long and adventurous life that he had led from the time of his first
voyage as cabin-boy until his retirement from the sea about two years
before.
"No, indeed, Grandpop, and it will be jolly, I'm sure. Please fill up
your pipe, so that you won't have to stop just when you get to the most
exciting part. Here's your box of matches; and now, as you often say,
'let the reel hum.'"
Captain Sterling smiled affectionately into the eager face upturned to
his, and commenced his story:
"It was when I was second mate of a brig called the _Nellie_, a good
many years ago, that this yarn really begins. We were homeward bound
from Brazil, with a cargo of coffee, when the yellow fever broke out on
board. First the captain sickened and died, then in order followed our
first mate, leaving me in command. Next the oldest member of our crew
was struck down, and to give him a chance for his life, as well as to
humor the wishes of the men, I had him taken out of the dark hot
forecastle and brought aft into one of the spare state-rooms in the
cabin. Here I nursed him as well as I could; but although the fever
broke after the third day, it left him so weak that he could not rally,
and his end was hastened on account of his not being able to retain the
slightest nourishment. He seemed to be very grateful for my care. On the
afternoon of the fifth day of his sickness he said to me that he knew
his end was near, and that he wished to show his gratitude while there
was yet time. In his chest in the forecastle, he stated that there was a
leather wallet, which I was to get and give to him. I did as he
requested. He took from it a sheet of paper, on which was rudely
sketched the outline of an island, with a compass showing the cardinal
points. On the western side of this island there was an indentation
resembling a bay having a very narrow entrance from the sea, and in
about the middle of the sketch there was a small circle, about west of
which a cross was marked.
"'Take this,' he said to me, 'and listen to what I say. This is a chart
of a little island known as San Juan, in the Windward West Indies. You
will see that I have given its latitude and longitude. Twenty years ago
I was one of the officers of the pirate schooner _Don Pedro_. We went on
shore at San Juan to divide the contents of the treasure-chest and to
carouse. During the night, when all others were sleeping, I stole away
to the spring, which is shown by the circle on the chart, and buried my
share of the treasure--nearly ten thousand dollars in gold--three feet
in the sand. I dug the hole right in the wake of the rising moon, with
the spring between it and me. Go to the island, count fifty paces west
of the spring, and dig.'
"'But,' I said to him, 'how do you know but what the money was found
years ago?'
"'The island is uninhabited, and no one but myself ever knew that I had
hidden it there. Two weeks after that the _Don Pedro_ was captured. They
hung the captain, and imprisoned the rest of us for life. One year ago I
escaped. Since that time I have been waiting for a chance to recover my
treasure. I intended to use the wages made on this voyage to buy a
passage to St. Croix, which is the nearest inhabited island to San Juan,
and then by some means reach the place where my gold is safely hidden.
The money is yours now, and I want you to take it as a gift from me for
your kindness.'
"Later on, when I visited his room, he was resting peacefully, with a
little ivory crucifix pressed against his cold white lips. The spirit of
the pirate had sailed on its last voyage across the sea of eternity.
"Three weeks later I carried the _Nellie_ into the harbor of New York,
and received a handsome present in money from the owners for my
services, with which I bought a passage on a sailing-vessel, known as
the _Dart_, bound to St. Croix, and reached that place after an
uneventful voyage.
"During our trip I stated to the captain that my business was to look
after some interests of an acquaintance, and that I hoped to have the
same attended to in advance of the time that the vessel was to sail, so
that I might return in her. I volunteered the same explanation at the
house where I secured board, and then found myself at liberty to go and
come without arousing interest in my movements. Having an object to
gain, I made it a point of keeping up very friendly relations with the
captain of the _Dart_, several times inviting him to dine with me, and
showing him many other courtesies, which he responded to by having me as
a guest at his table on board whenever I could make it convenient to
visit his vessel. One evening, as we sat under the quarter-deck awning
enjoying our Havanas, I said, carelessly:
"'Captain, I've been thinking that I would like to hire your long-boat
for the time that we shall be here. Being fitted with lug-sails, she can
easily be handled by one man, and I would enjoy running about the harbor
in her, and even making little trips along shore when I have nothing
else to do.'
"'You can have her in welcome,' he said. 'Don't say a word about pay. As
long as you will return her all right you can use her to your heart's
content. I will get her overboard in the morning, and have her put in
shape for you.'
"The next day I made a trial spin in the boat, and found her all that a
sailor could wish for in the way of speed and sea-going qualities. The
pirate's island was something less than sixty miles away, and I knew
that in the constant trade-winds that I had to count upon to give me a
fair breeze there and back, I should be able to reach it in about ten
hours.
"During the next two or three days I made several short excursions along
the coast, gradually paving the way for the dash I had in view. At last
the day arrived when I determined to stretch away for the little coral
island below the horizon. In the early morning I left the house,
carrying a valise, in which was food sufficient for my anticipated
needs, a large garden trowel, and a boat compass that I had brought from
the States. Folded in the pocket of my coat I carried a chart of the
Windward Islands, and with this equipment I stepped on board, hoisted
the two jib-headed sails, and started on my voyage.
"Hour after hour I was swept swiftly onward over the wind-whipped waves,
holding the brave little vessel steadily to her course. It was about
four o'clock in the afternoon that I lifted the island into sight,
bearing directly ahead, and an hour later found me sailing through the
narrow inlet that the pirate had laid down on his chart. I ran the boat
head on to the sandy beach, securing her painter to one of several
stunted palm-trees that grew in a bunch close to the water. The island
was not much more than a mile in circumference, and was impoverished in
the matter of vegetation, although the cactus-plant showed here and
there, and a few cocoanut-trees with a fringe of sickly scrub underbrush
occupied the centre of this otherwise barren island. I reasoned that the
site of the spring must be found within the little grove; so, providing
myself with the trowel and compass, I made my way toward it.
"From the time that I had first become familiar with the pirate's secret
up to the hour when I landed on the island my head had been perfectly
cool and my nerves tranquil; but now, as I approached the spot that I
had travelled two thousand miles to find, I grew dizzy, and my limbs
trembled, so that I was obliged to throw myself on the sand to rest for
a few minutes and to force a return of my self-control. Then I arose and
stepped within the circle of the little oasis.
"If there had been a spring there twenty years before, it had dried up
in the interval, although a bowl-shaped hollow in the soil possibly
showed where the water had once oozed through the sand.
"I asked myself if I had not been too credulous in pinning my faith to a
pirate's wild tale. Had I been chasing a rainbow? Had I spent
hard-earned savings and wasted several months' time on a wild-goose
errand? Such thoughts made me sick at heart and half desperate. I placed
my compass on the ground, carefully measured fifty paces due west of
what I was forced to consider the site of the old spring, and fell to
digging with my trowel.
"At the depth of about three feet I struck coral; then I commenced a
trench running north and south, and dug away for an hour, meeting with
nothing but fine white sand and the coral foundation. Hope as good as
deserted me. Looking at the sun, I saw that it was almost touching the
horizon-line, and knew that in a short time darkness would fall--for
there is no twilight in the tropics. I dropped my trowel, and sat down
on the edge of the hole that had promised so much in the beginning. As I
gave loose rein to my bitter thoughts I savagely kicked the toe of my
boot into the sandy wall of the opposite side of the pit.
"Was I dreaming? Had disappointment turned my brain, or had I really
heard the clink of metal? I held my breath, and again drove my boot
heavily against the wall.
"A piece of the soil fell into the pit, and out of the hole that it left
a golden waterfall poured down with a merry, maddening _clink, clink,
clink_; and there I sat, motionless, fascinated, while the treasure ran
over my feet and literally hid them from sight. Then my senses partly
returned to me, and I dragged my boots out of the gold and jumped and
shouted in a delirium of joy.
"It was no myth, after all, for the thousands so secretly hidden away by
the pirate looked upon the light of day for the first time in twenty
years, and as I gazed down at the golden heap I realized that it was
mine--all mine!
"The sun went down and the deep shadows fell on sea and land as I sat
gloating like a miser over my riches. I slept in the ditch that night,
lest during absence my fortune should be spirited away, and when morning
came I stowed the gold in the valise that I had brought from the boat,
then dug into the pocket from which it had flowed, to discover that it
yet contained a few scattered pieces, and the rotten remnants of the
canvas bag in which it had been buried.
"I set sail with my precious freight, and late that afternoon I reached
St. Croix, where I pottered about the boat until nightfall; then, under
cover of the darkness, I carried the valise to my room on shore and
stowed it in my sea-chest.
"Little remains to be told. I returned to New York in the _Dart_, and
used the little fortune that had come to me to purchase a captain's
interest in a fine vessel."
IMPORTANT "TRIFLES" ON WAR-SHIPS.
BY FRANKLIN MATTHEWS.
II.