SOME PAPERS OF VALUE
Ever since his father had left him the papers Andy had thought they
might be of considerable value, but now he was more convinced than ever
of their importance.
"For all I know, that claim may be worth a fortune," he reasoned.
"Anyway, it's worth something, or that man wouldn't be so anxious to get
the papers."
The youth tried his best to increase his speed, but the snow was deep in
spots, and his long journey to the Storburgh camp had tired him, so it
took some time to get even within sight of the cabin that was his home.
To the rear, under the shed, he saw a horse and cutter.
"He is there, that's sure," he told himself. "I wonder what they are
doing?"
The path to the cabin wound in and out among some trees, so that those
inside could not witness his approach unless they were on the watch. As
the youth came closer a sudden thought struck him, and he darted behind
some bushes, made a detour, and came up in the shed. Here there was a
back door opening into a summer kitchen.
Placing his bundles on a shelf in the shed, Andy softly opened the door
to the summer kitchen and entered the place. Here there was another
door, opening into the general living room of the cabin. It was not well
hung, and stood open several inches.
"Well, I know something about timber lands," he heard his uncle saying.
"If they are wuth anything, they are generally wuth considerable."
"I am offering you more than this claim is worth," was the reply from
Mr. A. Q. Hopton. He was standing in front of the fire warming himself,
while Josiah Graham was hunched up in his usual attitude in the easy
chair. Both men were smoking cigars, the real estate man having stood
treat.
"Wot makes you so anxious to git the papers?" went on Josiah Graham.
"My client simply wants to clear away this flaw, as I told you,"
answered A. Q. Hopton, smoothly. "Of course he could go ahead and claim
everything just as it is, and I don't think you could do a thing, but he
prefers to treat everybody right. Mr. Graham gave a hundred dollars for
this claim, so when you get three hundred for it you are getting a big
price."
"Humph!" Josiah Graham fell back on his favorite exclamation. "If I--that
is, if I let you have them papers, Andy may object."
"How can he? You're his guardian, aren't you?"
"Sure I am, but----"
"Then you have a right to do as you please. You don't want me to buy the
papers from him, do you?"
"No! no! You give the money to me!" cried Josiah Graham, in alarm. "He
don't know the vally of a dollar, an' I do. If he had thet three hundred
dollars he'd squander it in no time."
"Very well, give me the papers and I'll write you out a check."
"Can't you give me cash? It ain't no easy matter fer me to git a check
cashed up here." Josiah Graham did not add that he was afraid the check
might be worthless, although that was in his mind.
"I don't carry three hundred dollars in my clothes. I can give you fifty
in cash though," went on the real estate agent, as he saw the old man's
face fall. "And if you wish, I'll get one of the lumber bosses up here
to vouch for the check."
"Humph! I suppose thet will have to do then. But--er--one thing more, Mr.
Hopton----"
"What is that?"
Josiah Graham leaned forward anxiously.
"Don't you let the boy know about this right away. You give me a chanct
to tell him myself."
"Just as you wish. You're his guardian, and I'll not interfere with you.
Get the papers and I'll give you the check and the cash right now." And
the real estate agent drew a pocketbook and a checkbook from his inside
coat.
Andy had listened to the conversation with bated breath. So far as
worldly experience went he was but a boy, yet he realized that, in some
way, this Mr. A. Q. Hopton was trying to swindle him out of his
inheritance, and that his Uncle Si was willing to aid the schemer just
for the sake of getting possession of the three hundred dollars.
As his uncle arose to enter the room in which his nephew slept, the boy
slipped into the cabin. Like a flash he darted to his bedroom, jumped
inside, and shut and bolted the door after him.
"Hi there! What's this?" cried the real estate dealer, in astonishment.
"It's--it's the boy, my nevvy!" gasped Josiah Graham. "He come in through
the back door! He must have been a-listenin' to our talk."
"Is that so? That's too bad." The real estate agent was dazed by the
sudden turn of affairs. "He had a gun with him."
"Yes, he took it with him when he went for work." Josiah Graham walked
over to the door and tried it. "Andy, open that door."
"I will not," was the answer.
"Was you a-listenin' to our talk?"
"I was."
"Humph! Nice thing fer a boy to do!"
"I guess I had a right to listen," was the cool answer. As he spoke,
Andy was examining the box in which he had stored the papers. He found
things much disarranged, showing that his uncle had gone through the
contents during his absence. But the papers were there, and the sight of
them caused him to breathe a sigh of relief.
"They sha'n't have these papers, no matter what happens," he said to
himself, and stuffed the documents into an inside pocket.
"Open thet door!" commanded Josiah Graham, and his voice now sounded
harsh and threatening.
"I guess you had better teach that boy manners," was Mr. A. Q. Hopton's
comment.
"I'll teach him sumthin'!" answered the old man. "Open thet door, I say,
an' come out here."
"You want to get those papers," said Andy. He was wondering what to do
next.
"Well, ain't I your guardeen, an' ain't I got a right to 'em?"
"The papers are mine, and I'm not going to give them up," answered Andy,
doggedly. "I don't like that Mr. Hopton, and he's not going to get the
papers. I'm going to turn them over to a lawyer."
At these words the real estate man was much disturbed.
"That boy is an imp," he said, in a low voice. "I'd not let him talk to
me that way if I were you."
"I ain't goin' to," answered Josiah Graham. "Andy, you open thet door,
or I'll bust it in!"
"Don't you dare break down the door!" answered Andy, in increased alarm.
"If you do--I'll--I'll--Well, remember, I've got my gun--and it's loaded,
too."
"Don't ye shoot! Don't ye shoot!" yelled Uncle Si, in sudden terror, and
he backed away several steps. "Don't ye dare! Oh, was ever there sech a
boy!"
"Do you think he'd dare to shoot?" asked the real estate dealer.
"I dunno. He's got lots o' spirit sometimes."
"Maybe we had better try to reason with him."
"All right." Josiah Graham raised his voice. "Andy, this is
all--er--foolishness. Come out o' there."
To this the youth did not answer. He was considering what he had best do
next. He did not want to shoot anybody, and he was afraid that the two
men would in some manner get the better of him and take away the papers.
"Andy, do ye hear me? Come out--I ain't goin' to hurt ye."
"You'll take those papers away from me."
"He is going to sell me the papers, and at a good price," broke in A. Q.
Hopton.
"I don't want to sell--to you," answered Andy. He was moving around the
bedroom rapidly, having decided on a course of action.
"I'm your guardeen, an' I know wot's best," broke in Josiah Graham.
"Open the door, an' no more foolin' about it."
"I don't recognize you as my guardian," was Andy's reply. As he spoke he
tiptoed his way to the window and opened it. Then he threw out a small
bundle, and his gun and game bag followed.
"I am your guardeen!" stormed Josiah Graham. "You open the door!"
Instead of answering, Andy pushed a chair to the window. In another
instant he had mounted it, and then he crawled through the opening. He
landed in a heap in the snow, and scrambled up immediately. With bundle,
gun, the game bag in his possession, he ran back of the shed and then
down the road leading to the village.
At that minute he did not know where he was going, or what he was going
to do. He had the precious papers in his pocket, and his one idea was to
keep these away from his uncle and Mr. A. Q. Hopton.
"I'll not go back until I've stored the papers in a safe place," he told
himself, finally. "I wonder who would keep them for me without asking
too many questions?"
Although the sun hung low in the west, it was still light, and reaching
a turn in the road, Andy stopped to look back. Much to his chagrin, he
saw that his flight had already been discovered.
"They are coming after me!" he murmured, as he saw the horse and cutter
flash into view. His uncle and the real estate dealer were on the seat,
and the latter was urging the horse into a run through the heavy snow.
Unfortunately for Andy, there was but one road in that vicinity, and
that ended at the Graham cabin. On all sides were the pine woods, with
their scrub timber and underbrush, still partly laden with the fall of
snow of the week previous.
"If I stick to the road they'll catch me sure, and if I leave it I'll
have to go right into the woods, and they'll easily see my trail," he
reasoned.
He broke into a run, and thus managed to pass another bend of the
highway. Behind him he heard the jingle of the sleighbells as the cutter
drew closer. In a few minutes more his pursuers would be upon him.
"I'll chance it in the woods," he muttered, and, reaching a spot where
the undergrowth was thick, he leaped between the bushes and then walked
on to a clump of pines. He was barely under the pines when he heard the
cutter dash past. The men were talking excitedly, but he could not make
out what was being said.
As the jingle of the sleighbells grew more distant, another thought came
to Andy's mind, one that made him smile grimly in spite of the
seriousness of the situation.
"Might as well return and get something to eat," he told himself. "They
won't come back right away."
It did not take him long to retrace his steps to the cabin. The cutter,
with its occupants, had kept on towards the village, so he had the place
entirely to himself. He quickly found something to eat and to drink, and
made a substantial meal. Then he placed a few more of his belongings in
his bundle.
"It won't do for me to stay here as long as I have the papers with me,"
he told himself. "I guess I'd better try to get to the old Smith cabin
for tonight. Then I can make up my mind what to do in the morning."
The Smith cabin was a deserted place nearly a mile away. To reach it,
Andy had to tramp directly through the woods. But the youth did not mind
this, for he had often been out hunting in the vicinity.
"I might get a shot at something," he mused. "A rabbit or a couple of
birds wouldn't go bad for breakfast."
He lost no time in striking out. Half the distance was covered when he
saw a big rabbit directly in his path. He blazed away, and the game fell
dead. Then he caught sight of a squirrel, and brought that down also.
"Now I'll have something besides crackers and bacon when I'm hungry," he
told himself, with satisfaction.
Soon he came in sight of the old Smith place. Much to his surprise,
smoke was curling from the chimney, and he saw the ruddy glare of an
open fire within.
"Somebody is here," he thought. "Some hunter most likely. Wonder who it
can be." And he strode forward to find out.