THE FIRST NIGHT OUT
"Well, it's started in to snow!"
Jud Elderkin made this surprising statement after he had gone to the
door to take a peep at the weather.
"You must be fooling, Jud," expostulated Tom, "because when I looked
out not more'n fifteen minutes ago the moon was shining like
everything."
"All right, that may be, but she's blanketed behind the clouds right
now, and the snow's coming down like fun," asserted Jud.
"Seems that we didn't get here any too soon, then," chuckled Bluff.
"Oh! a little snow wouldn't have bothered us any," laughed Jack. "We'd
never think of minding a heavy fall at home, and why should we worry
now?"
"That's a fact," Bobolink went on to remark, with a look of solid
satisfaction on his beaming face. "Plenty of wood under the shed near
by, and enough grub to feed an army. We're all right."
After several of them had gone to verify Jud's statement, and had
brought back positive evidence in the shape of snowballs, the boys
again clustered around the jolly fire and continued to talk on various
subjects that chanced to interest them.
"I wonder now," remarked Bobolink, finally, "if Hank took Mr. Briggs'
money as well as set fire to his store."
As this was the first mention that had been made concerning this
subject Tolly Tip showed considerable interest.
"Is it the ould storekeeper in Stanhope ye mane?" he asked. "Because I
did me tradin' with the same the short time I was in town, and sorry a
bargain did I ever sacure from Misther Briggs."
"Plenty of other people are in the same boat with you there, Tolly
Tip," Sandy told him with a chuckle. "But his run of good luck has met
with a snag. Somebody set fire to his store, which was partly burned
down the other night."
"Yes, and the worst part of it," added Bobolink, "was that Mr. Briggs
accidentally, or on purpose, let his insurance policy lapse, so that
he can get no damages on account of this fire."
"And the last thing we heard before coming away," Phil Towns went on
to say, "was that the safe had been broken open and robbed. Poor old
Levi Briggs' cup is full to overflowing I guess. Everything seems to
be coming his way in a bunch."
"I suspect that this Hank ye're tillin' me about must be a wild
harum-scarum broth av a boy thin?" remarked the old woodsman, puffing
at his pipe contentedly.
"He is the toughest boy in town," said Phil.
"And several others train with him who aim to beat his record if they
can," Spider Sexton hastened to add as his contribution.
"There's absolutely nothing they wouldn't try if they thought they
could get some fun or gain out of it," declared Jud emphatically.
"Do till!" exclaimed their host, shaking his head dolefully as though
he disliked knowing that any boys could sink to such a low level.
"Why, only the other day," said Bobolink, "Jack and I saw the gang
pick on a couple of tramps who had just come out of Briggs' store. So
far as we knew the hoboes hadn't offered to say a word to Hank and his
crowd, but the fellows ran them out of town with a shower of stones.
Didn't they, Jack?"
"Yes. And we saw one tramp get a hard blow on the head from a rock, in
the bargain," assented Jack.
"Wow! but they were a mad pair, let me tell you," concluded Bobolink.
"By the same token," observed Tolly Tip, "till me av one of the tramps
had on an ould blue army coat wid rid linin' to the same?"
Bobolink uttered an exclamation of surprise.
"Just what he did, I give you my word!" he replied hastily.
"And was the other chap a long-legged hobo, wid a face that made ye
think av the sharp idge av a hatchet?" the old trapper questioned.
"I reckon you must have seen the pair yourself, Tolly Tip!" observed
Bobolink. "Were you in Stanhope, or did they happen to pass this
way?"
At that the taker of furs touched his cheek just below his eye with
the tip of his finger, and smiled humorously.
"'Tis the black eye they were afther giving me early this day, sure it
was," he explained. "Not two miles away from here it happened, where
the road cuts through the woods like a knife blade. I'd been out to
look at a few traps set in that section whin I kim on the spalpeens.
We had words, and the shorter chap wid the army coat ran, but the
other engaged me. Before he cut stick he managed to lave the
imprission av his fists on me face, bad luck to the same."
"I guess after all, Jack," remarked Bobolink, "they must be a couple
of hard cases, and Hank did the town a service when he chased them
off."
"It would be the first time on record then that the Lawson crowd was
of any benefit to the community," Jack commented; "but accidents will
happen, you know. They didn't mean to do a good turn, only have what
they call fun."
"So the shorter rascal didn't have any fight in him, it seems, Tolly
Tip?" Bobolink observed, as though the subject interested him
considerably.
"Oh! as for that," replied the trapper, "mebbe he do be afther
thinkin' discretion was the better part av valor. Ye say, he had one
av his hands wrapped up in a rag, and I suspect he must have been
hurt."
"That's interesting, at any rate!" declared Bobolink. "When we saw him
he had the use of both hands. Something must have happened after that.
I wonder what."
"You're the greatest fellow to _wonder_ I ever knew," laughed Sandy
Griggs.
"Bobolink likes to grapple with mysteries," said Jud, "and from now on
he'll keep bothering his head about that tramp's injured hand, wanting
to know whether he cut himself with a broken bottle, or burned his
fingers when cooking his coffee in an old tomato can over the
campfire."
"Let Bobolink alone, boys," said Paul. "If he chooses to amuse himself
in that way what's the odds? Who knows but what he may surprise us
with a wonderful discovery some day."
"Thank you, Paul," the other remarked drily.
After that the subject was dropped. It did not offer much of interest
to the other scouts, but Paul, glancing towards Bobolink several
times, could easily see that he was pondering over something.
After all, the snow did not last long. Before they finally went to bed
they found that the moon had once more appeared through a rift in the
clouds, and not more than two inches of fresh snow had covered the
ground.
There was considerable skirmishing around done when the boys commenced
to make their final preparations for spending the first night in their
winter camp. No one would think of taking Tolly Tip's bunk when he
generously offered it, and so straws were drawn for the remaining
three, as well as the cot upon which Mr. Garrity slept when up at his
Deer Head Lodge.
The fortunate ones turned out to be Paul, Bluff, Frank and Bobolink,
though the last mentioned declared positively that he preferred
sleeping on the floor as a novelty, and insisted that Phil Towns
occupy his bunk.
They managed to make themselves comfortable after a fashion, though
the appearance of the "dormitory" excited considerable laughter, with
the boys sprawled out in every direction.
All of the boys were up early, and they were eager to take up the many
plans they had laid out for the day. Breakfast was the first thing on
the calendar; and while it was being prepared and dispatched the
tongues of that half score of boys ran on like the water over the
wheel of the old mill, with a constant clatter.
There was no necessity for all of them to remain at home to work on
the new bunks, so Paul picked out several to assist him in that work.
The others were at liberty to carry out such scout activities as most
appealed to their fancy. Some planned to go off with the woodsman to
see how he managed with his steel traps, by means of which, during the
winter, he expected to lay by quite a good-sized bundle of valuable
fur. Then there was wood to chop, pictures to be taken, favorable
places to be found for setting the camera during a coming night so as
to get a flashlight view of a fox or a mink in the act of stealing the
bait, as well as numerous other pleasant duties and diversions, all of
which had been eagerly planned for the preceding night as the boys sat
before the crackling fire.