AFTER MOUNTAIN BROOK MINK
"Shoot him, Whopper!"
Such was the exclamation from all of the others, and in haste the
lad named took hasty aim and pulled the trigger.
The shot was a poor one, the charge merely tearing across the side
of the water snake. With another hiss it whipped around and in a
twinkling had itself curled around Whopper's left leg.
"Hi! take him off! Take him off!" screamed the young hunter, in
terror. "Don't let him bite me!"
Snap sprang forward. His one idea was to save his chum, and he
did not think of his own peril.
"Beware!" cautioned Giant.
Watching his chance, Snap put his foot on the tail of the water
snake. The reptile whipped around wildly and wound itself about
the lower limbs of both boys.
"I'll get a gun!" yelled Shep, and made a dash for the nearest
of the firearms.
"Don't shoot us!" called out Whopper.
Catching up a weapon, Shep came up close and let drive almost in the
face of the water snake. It was a telling shot, and the reptile
whipped wildly this way and that. Then it fell into the water and
was quickly lost to sight.
"Is---is he gone?" gasped Whopper.
"Yes," answered Giant. "Shep finished him."
"That was no joke," said Snap, when he could speak. He was trembling
from head to foot.
"A joke? Well, I reckon not!" spluttered Whopper. "Ugh! It makes
me shiver to think about it."
"Let us get out of here," came from Snap. "Remember, where there
is one snake there may be more."
"Then I am going to quit right now!" cried Shep, and lost no time
in leaving the neighborhood, followed by the others.
The boys concluded that they had had adventures enough for one
day and went back to camp. Here two of the lads set to work to
make a rabbit pot-pie, with dumplings. They had seen such things
made at home and went at the task with care. When the pot-pie
was served all declared it "the best ever." Perhaps the dumplings
were a trifle heavy, but what of that? Living in the open air
had sharpened their appetites wonderfully and nobody was disposed
to quarrel over the meal.
The next day was rather cold and misty and they kept in or near
the cabin. Snap had brought some extra sugar and also some chocolate
along, and the morning was devoted to candy-making, some with nuts
and some without. The candy was very good, and while they ate a
fair share, the rest was put away, to be eaten a little at a time.
So far, since leaving their first camp, they had not seen or heard
of Andrew Felps, but that afternoon an old hunter strolled into
their locality and asked if they could furnish him with a meal
and a shakedown until morning, offering three rabbits in payment.
"I think we can accommodate you," said Snap. "And you can keep
your rabbits."
The face of the old hunter looked familiar, and while he was eating,
it came out that his name was Jack Dalton and that he had been one
of the two guides who had come up to Lake Cameron with the Felps
party.
"I got sick of working for that crowd," said jack Dalton. "They
wanted to make a regular nigger of me and I up and told Felps I
wouldn't stand for it."
"Is the other guide with them?" asked Shep.
"Humph! Dad Begow ain't no reg'lar guide---he's only a camp
follower---dish-washer, an' like that. He pertends to be a guide,
but he ain't no good at shootin'. Yes, he's with 'em, but he only
stayed because they raised his wages. They wanted to raise mine when
they saw I was really goin', but I told 'em money wasn't everything."
"I don't wonder that you got sick of Andrew Felps," put in Giant.
"You know how he treated is."
"It was dirt mean, lad, an' I about told him so, too. But the
Felpses always was a hard crowd to deal with. He thought he was
gettin' one in on Mr. Dodge when he fired you out."
"I thought as much," said Snap. "He is very bitter against my
father."
"It is because of the lumber business---he wanted the tract of
lumber to cut that the Barnaby Company got hold of," went on Jack
Dalton. "How are you a-makin' it?"
"Fine!" said Snap, and then he and his chums told of all the game
that had been brought down---they having kept a record in a little
book the leader of the gun club carried.
"That's first-class, boys," said the guide. "Couldn't be better.
Now, all they got were two wild turkeys, some rabbits and one
small deer. I led 'em to a fine herd o' deer, but they wanted
to do the shootin' all alone. When it came time to let drive,
Felps and one o' the other men got buck fever and shot wild, and
most of the deer got away. That was one thing made me sick. They
can't shoot fer sour apples."
"And they'll blame their ill luck on you, when they get home,"
said Whopper.
"More'n likely. But I don't care fer thet. Folks in these parts
know what Jack Dalton kin do. Jest you ask Jed Sanborn about it."
"Yes, Sanborn has spoken about you," answered Snap. "He said you
had brought down some of the biggest deer and bears in these parts."
"Exactly so, boy, although I don't want to blow about it. Tootin'
yer own horn ain't perlite. But I ain't afraid o' what sech a
feller as Andy Felps says."
That night Jack Dalton told them the story of a bear hunt, which
was more than ordinarily interesting. He said that bears were
by no means plentiful in the lake region and yet there were a few
around, some of pretty fair size.
"You'll run across one when ye least expect it," said the old
hunter. "When that happens, take your time an' shoot to kill. If
ye don't, Mr. Bear may come up an' hug you to death, jess fer the
fun o' it."
"I am going to set a bear trap," said one of the boys, and told
of the plan, which was approved by Jack Dalton.
Before leaving the next morning the old hunter told them where he
thought they could bring down a mink or two, and after his departure
they set off, to see what luck they might have.
The weather was now getting colder and there was a promise of snow
in the air. Yet about ten o'clock the sun broke through the clouds
and then it grew a bit warmer.
"A little snow will make hunting very fine," declared Snap, as they
trudged along. "As it is now, it is next to impossible to track
any big game."
The spot Jack Dalton had mentioned was nearly two miles from their
camp, along a rocky watercourse flowing into a small lake between
Lake Cameron and Firefly Lake. Here, among the rocks, was a favorite
haunt of the mountain brook mink, as they are popularly called.
As they neared the locality, the young hunters looked to their
weapons and then advanced with caution. The water, gurgling over
the rocks, drowned the sounds of their advance, and so they came
upon the mink without being discovered.
Two of the animals were in sight, one on either side of the small
stream. As all wanted the honor of bringing down the mink, Shep
and Snap fired at one and Whopper and Giant at the other. The
aim of the boy hunters was true, and the game dropped down where
they stood.
"Fine mink these," declared Snap, after an examination. "Just look
at the heavy fur."
"You are right," answered Whopper. "But the fur will he thicker yet
later in the season."
With the mink in their game-bags, they pushed on up the tiny
watercourse and not long after roused up some partridge, the game
going up with a rush that at first scared them. But they shot as
quickly as they could, and each had a partridge to his credit.
"This day is opening finely," declared Whopper. "We are bound to
get about a hundred birds and animals, I'll wager."
"That's right, pile it on," answered Shep, with a grin. "I thought
you had been keeping down lately."
"Oh, a hundred is nothing," said Whopper, airily. "Maybe I'll
get that many myself. I once heard of a man who shot two hundred
wild turkeys in a day."
"I don't call that sport," put in Giant. "I call that butchery."
"So do I," answered Snap. "Even as it is, I sometimes think we
are shooting too much."
"Well, if we don't bring the game down somebody else will," said
Whopper.
"Some day they'll have to pass some more laws, protecting game," was
Shep's comment. "If they don't, there won't be anything to shoot
inside of the next fifteen or twenty years."
"My father said that some folks were advocating a law to stop all
deer-shooting for two years or longer," said Shep. "That would
give them a chance to multiply."
"Well, I am going to shoot what I can---now I am out here," said
Whopper.