HAM SPINK AND THE SKUNK
But the boys' streak of luck came to an end as quickly as it began.
Try their best, they could locate no more large game, and had to
content themselves with a squirrel and a few fair-sized birds.
"I am getting tired of this," remarked Shep, after they had tramped
across several hills. "Let us call it off and get back to camp."
The others were willing, and they turned their footsteps in the
direction of the cabin. Half of the distance was covered when
Snap stopped his companions.
"Look over on yonder hill," he said. "Isn't that Ham Spink's crowd?"
"It is; and there is Ham in advance," answered Whopper.
"Let us go over and see what they have got," put in Giant, curiously.
The curiosity of the others was also excited, and they turned in the
direction Snap had pointed out, and soon came up to one of the
rival hunters.
"Hullo!" cried Snap, good-naturedly. "How are you getting along?"
The boy addressed was Dick Bush, and he answered with a scowl.
"Shot any deer lately?" asked Whopper.
"No," was the surly response.
"Got anything at all?" asked Giant.
"One rabbit. Have you anything?" went on Dick Bush, also curious.
"Oh, a few things," was Snap's careless answer, and he winked at
his chums.
"We have some birds and a squirrel," said Whopper.
"Oh, we didn't shoot any birds," put in Ham Spink, coming up.
"Ain't that fine?" and he held up a medium-sized rabbit.
By this time the whole crowd had surrounded our friends. All the
rival campers had were two rabbits and a small woodchuck that was of
no account.
"How do you like these?" said Snap, and showed up the mink and the
rest of the game.
At the sight of the game, Ham Spink's eyes opened widely, and the
others from the rival camp showed their astonishment.
"Where did you get all that game?" asked the leader of the other
camp.
"Shot it."
"Not to-day."
"Yes, to-day," answered Giant, proudly.
"Then somebody must have helped you," said am Spink, enviously.
"Maybe Jed Sanborn is around."
"No; we brought this game down alone."
"Where did you get the mink?"
"Up that little brook you see yonder."
"I didn't know there was any mink around here," came from Carl Dudder.
"Guess I'll look for some myself."
"Well, I wish you luck," said Snap, pleasantly.
"Yes, you wish us a pile of luck!" burst out Ham Spink. "I rather
guess you wish we wouldn't bring down a thing!"
"No; I am not so mean, Ham. There is enough for all in these woods."
"Bah! don't tell me!" snorted the dudish youth, and stalked off,
followed by two of his cronies.
Ham Spink was dressed in as fine a hunting outfit as he could
procure, and his shotgun was an expensive nickel-plated affair---the
kind of a gun some old hunters who know will not have for a gift.
Ham Spink had just caught sight of a small animal, hidden in the
long grass of a glade but a short distance away.
"I am going to bring it down, whatever it is!" he cried to Dick
Bush. "Keep back!"
"Ham's found something to shoot at!" cried one of the other boys.
They all held back, to give their leader a chance to show his ability.
Snap and his chums watched curiously.
"I don't see anything-----" began Giant, and then he burst into
a laugh. "It's a skunk!"
"A skunk?" repeated Shep. "If that's so, Ham had better give
it a wide berth."
It was indeed a skunk, dark in color and with a bushy tail. As
it moved along in the grass it looked somewhat like a large black
cat. Excited, Ham Spink ran close, took hasty aim and let fire.
The skunk was hit but not badly wounded. It swished around, and
an instant later the dudish young hunter received a stream of
liquid over his cheek and shoulder that almost paralyzed him.
"Oh! oh! Take it away!" screamed poor Ham. "Oh, dear me!"
"Phw! what a stench!" gasped Dick Bush, falling back a step or two.
"That's a skunk!" yelled Giant. "Get out of the way---unless you
want your clothing ruined!"
The offensive odor was now so powerful in that vicinity that nearly
all of the young hunters fell hack to another position some distance
away. In the meantime the skunk ran for the bushes and disappeared
from view.
"Oh, dear! Oh, this is---is fearful!" gasped Ham Spink, putting
his thumb and forefinger to his nose. "Wha-what am I to do?"
"Ham has caught it and no mistake!" whispered Snap.
"He'll be as sweet as a bag of bone fertilizer after this," was
Shep's comment.
"You'll be able to smell him ten miles off," vouchsafed Whopper.
"You'll recognize him in the dark with your eyes closed."
"Hi, you! Don't you make fun of me!" bawled the dudish youth,
turning wrathfully on our friends.
"I hope the shooting was good, Ham," said Snap, drily.
"Don't be afraid to bury yourself, Ham, if you feel like it!"
added Shep.
"I---I'll bury you!" stormed the unfortunate youth. "Oh, what
a mess!" he groaned. "Dick, what shall I do?"
"I don't know," was the answer. "Only please keep away from me.
The---er---the odor makes me sick, really it does."
"Huh! I'm sick myself. I didn't know it was a skunk. Why didn't
somebody warn me?"
"Take off your clothes and bury them," suggested Giant. "That
sometimes takes the smell away."
"Oh, hang the clothes! I'll burn them up!" growled Ham. "What
shall I do for myself?"
"Wash yourself with carbolic soap," suggested Shep.
"I haven't any."
"Then take a mud bath," came from Whopper. "After that use common
soap, and you'll be rid of the worst of it."
"I suppose you think you've got the laugh on me," grunted Ham Spink.
He was about as angry and helpless as he could be.
"Oh, we are weeping for you, Ham!" said Shep. "Come on, fellows!"
and he started off and soon his friends followed him.
"Oh, but he does smell prime!" said Whopper, when they were out
of bearing. "He'd down a cologne factory in one round!"
"It is certainly awful!" answered Snap. "It was too bad to spoil
that nice suit of clothes."
"I am thankful that we didn't meet the skunk," came from Giant.
"I remember meeting a skunk years ago---when I was a little boy,"
said Shep. "I thought it was a cat and wanted to pick it up.
I think the skunk was getting ready for me when our dog came
along and scared the thing away."
Ham Spink was indeed in a sorry plight. The smell was so bad
that none of his friends wanted to go near him, and they begged
him to keep his distance. In anger he stalked back to his camp,
and there took off the almost ruined suit and buried it in the
ground for forty-eight hours, which removed the worst of the odor.
Following the advice given, he washed himself in a mud paste,
allowing the mud to dry on him at the heat of the fire. Later
he washed the mud off and used some heavily scented toilet soap,
and thus removed the worst of the odor from his person. But it
was a good week before he felt as clean as he had previous to
the encounter with the obnoxious animal.