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[Illustration:
The GUNBOAT SERIES.
BOOKS for BOYS, by a GUNBOAT BOY.
FRANK IN THE WOODS.
PORTER & COATES,
PHILADELPHIA, PA.]
Frank and Archie Series.
FRANK IN THE WOODS.
by
HARRY CASTLEMON,
Author of "The Rocky Mountain Series," "The Go-Ahead
Series," etc.
Philadelphia:
Porter & Coates.
Cincinnati, O.:
R. W. Carroll & Co.
Contents.
CHAPTER I. THE ENCAMPMENT 7
CHAPTER II. AN UNPLEASANT COMPANION 15
CHAPTER III. AN INDIAN HUNT 27
CHAPTER IV. THE "OLE SETTLER" 47
CHAPTER V. THE FIGHT IN THE WOODS 52
CHAPTER VI. THE WHITE BUCK 76
CHAPTER VII. A MIDNIGHT ATTACK 90
CHAPTER VIII. A COUPLE OF NEW PETS 101
CHAPTER IX. CLOSE QUARTERS WITH A GRIZZLY 116
CHAPTER X. A BEAVER HUNT 132
CHAPTER XI. BREAKING UP A MOOSE-PEN 143
CHAPTER XII. THE MOOSE SHOWS HIS QUALITIES 152
CHAPTER XIII. THE BLACK MUSTANG 169
CHAPTER XIV. A BRUSH WITH THE GREASERS 180
CHAPTER XV. CAUGHT AT LAST 194
CHAPTER XVI. THE LOST WAGON-TRAIN 204
CHAPTER XVII. THE STRUGGLE IN THE CAVE 216
CHAPTER XVIII. END OF THE TRAPPER AND BLACK MUSTANG 227
CHAPTER XIX. THE INDIANS AGAIN 236
CHAPTER XX. THE JOURNEY HOMEWARD 251
FRANK IN THE WOODS.
CHAPTER I.
The Encampment.
Our scene opens in the swamp that stretches away for miles north of
Lawrence.
It was a cold, dreary night. The wind moaned and whistled through the
leafless branches of the trees, sending the snow in fitful gusts
through every nook and corner of the forest. On the banks of a small
lake, that lay hemmed in on all sides by tall trees, which bowed to
every gust of the winter's storm, was an encampment. A rude
hut--built, however, after the most approved hunter fashion, with its
back to the wind, and its front open to a cheerful fire--stood in a
little grove of evergreens, ready to receive beneath its friendly
shelter four boys, whom you could easily recognize as our old
friends of the sailing and fishing frolics described in "THE
YOUNG NATURALIST." We left them, after a hard day's work at
fox-hunting--Archie asleep on the bed, and Frank seated in his easy
chair, reading one of his favorite authors; while George and Harry,
who had a quarter of a mile to go before they reached home, were
walking slowly along the road, so weary that they could scarcely drag
one foot after the other. To enable the reader to understand how we
come to find them here in the woods, twenty miles from any human
habitation, we must conduct him back to Lawrence, and relate a few
incidents with which he is not acquainted.
On the day following the one on which the foxhunt took place, the boys
were too lame to tramp about, and they passed most of their time in
the shop. Frank commenced to prepare the fox-skin for mounting in the
museum, and Archie busied himself in putting his traps in working
order. While thus engaged, Frank exclaimed:
"Archie, let's go and make Uncle Joe a visit. What do you say?"
"I should like to go very much," said Archie; "but you know it's a
mean journey to make in winter. I don't like the idea of carrying my
baggage on"----
"We need not carry any thing," interrupted Frank. "I have been
thinking it all over, and I don't see why we can't do as the Canadian
trappers do--drag our baggage after us on sleds."
The village boys had always been in the habit of visiting Uncle Joe in
the summer; the journey could then be made with scarcely any
inconvenience, for Glen's Creek ran within a few feet of the old
hunter's cabin; but in winter the traveling was much more difficult,
for the boys were obliged to carry their provisions, blankets, and
other needful articles, on their backs. But Frank's plan obviated this
difficulty. The creek was frozen over, and using it as a highway, they
could accomplish the journey to Uncle Joe's almost as easily as with a
boat.
"That's a first-rate idea," said Archie. "I wonder why we did not
think of it before! Let us go right to work and make the sled."
"We had better wait until we find out whether mother will let us go or
not," said Frank; "besides, we want Harry and George to go with us."
"I think Aunt Mary will give her consent," said Archie, laying aside
his traps. "Let's go in and ask her."
The boys readily answered all Mrs. Nelson's objections--such as being
lost in the woods and eaten up by bears--by assuring her that they
were well acquainted with the road to Uncle Joe's, for they had
traveled it several times before; besides, they had a compass, and it
was impossible to get lost; and, as to the bears, there were very few
of them in the woods, and no bear that ever lived was a match for four
boys, all good marksmen, armed with double-barrel shot-guns, and
assisted by three good dogs. So Mrs. Nelson was obliged to consent,
and the boys started off to see George and Harry. The latter easily
obtained their parents' permission, and the boys adjourned to the
kitchen to talk over their plans. It was decided that two sleds would
carry all their baggage, and that every thing should be ready for the
start early on Monday morning; it was then Friday. After making all
their arrangements, Frank and his cousin returned home, and
immediately commenced working on their sled. A stout hickory sapling,
which they had used in stretching and curing the skin of the deer they
killed in the lake, was sawed in twain for the runners, and bent into
shape by steaming. The braces were then put in, and before dark the
body of the sled was completed. It was light and very strong, and
Archie dragged it about the shop in high glee.
"It's all done but the box," said he.
"We don't want any box," said his cousin. "It would only make the sled
heavy, without doing any good. We will get an old quilt or blanket
from mother, and that will do better than a box."
This article was soon obtained, and fastened to the sled in such a
manner that it could be strapped around the baggage; and just as
Hannah called them to supper, the sled was pronounced ready for the
journey.
The next day Hannah was kept busy baking biscuit and other provisions
sufficient to last until they reached Uncle Joe's; while the boys
busied themselves in cleaning their guns, sharpening their knives and
axes, and getting every thing ready for the start.
Time seemed to move on laggard wings, so impatient were they to be
off; but Monday morning came at length, and the boys were stirring
long before daylight. As soon as they had eaten breakfast, the sled
was brought out of the shop, and their baggage--which consisted of a
change of clothes, blankets, ammunition, axes, and provisions--was
strapped on securely. Just as they completed their preparations,
George and Harry came along. Bidding Mrs. Nelson and Julia good-by,
they all started off; and, after a hard day's tramp, encamped at the
place where we now find them.
After they had finished carrying their baggage into the hut, a lively
scene was presented. Harry sat before the fire, cutting a pair of
leggins out of a finely-dressed deer-skin, which he had spread on the
floor of the hut; George was engaged in arranging their beds; Archie
was in front of the hut, chopping the evening's supply of fire-wood;
and Frank was superintending the cooking of their supper. The dogs lay
stretched out on a blanket, enjoying a quiet nap.
"There," said Archie, at length, leaning on his ax, and surveying the
pile of wood he had cut; "I guess that will last us through the
night."
"Yes, that's a plenty," said Frank. "Come, boys, supper is ready!"
Archie accordingly entered the hut, and, after depositing his ax in a
corner, picked out a warm place by the fire, and commenced helping
himself to the eatables. The meal consisted of squirrels, which had
been roasted on spits before the fire, coffee, and bread and butter.
Their long tramp--they had made about twenty miles since morning--had
sharpened their appetites, and the supper rapidly disappeared. But
there was enough left for the dogs, and after they had been
bountifully fed, and the supper dishes washed, the boys stretched
themselves out on their blankets before the fire. Each seemed to be
occupied with his own thoughts. The sifting of the snow over the roof
of the hut, the crackling of the fire, and an occasional howl of a
wolf, were the only sounds that broke the stillness. At length, Harry
said:
"Now, boys, this is the kind of a life I enjoy. Doesn't it make a
fellow feel comfortable, to lie here and listen to the storm, and know
that he is securely sheltered? For my part, I don't see how a person
can live cooped up in a city all his life."
"It is a difficult matter," answered Archie; "for I have tried it, and
profess to know something about it. How many times I have sat in
school, when I had a hard lesson to get, and looked out of the window,
and wished that I was off in the woods somewhere!"
"Well, you're here at last," said George; "but the only way to pass a
long winter evening is in listening to a good story. Come, Frank, give
us one."
"Yes," chimed in Harry, "give us something exciting."
"A hunting adventure," said Archie, "or a fight with the Indians."
"O, you will hear plenty of such stories when we get to Uncle Joe's,"
said Frank. "But I will tell you of an adventure which happened to my
uncle, who was a young lawyer at the time, settled in St. Louis;" and
Frank, after rearranging his blanket commenced as follows: