WHAT CAME DOWN THE CHIMNEY.
"It's a bear!" whooped Steve, as he made a headlong dash for the corner
where his double barrel stood.
Forgotten just then was the injunction of the old trapper that they
should not shoot any thing that wore fur, as it would cheat him out of
all his expected profits.
If a bear became so bold as to enter the cabin by way of the chimney he
must surely be treated, with scant ceremony. Buckshot or birdshot, it
mattered little which the gun contained, since at close quarters the load
would carry like a large bullet.
But Steve had not even managed to lay a hand on his gun, when he was
amazed to hear above the barking of the two dogs, loud shrieks of
laughter from Max, Owen, and Toby.
Even the hoarser notes of the trapper seemed to join in. And when there
chanced to be a little break in all this racket, Steve caught a wailing
voice crying aloud:
"Put me out! Somebody throw a bucket of water over me, and put me out!
I'm all a-fire! Why can't you help a feller?"
A figure was dancing around like mad, now slapping at his trousers leg,
and then trying to reach the middle of his back, where his coat seemed to
be smoldering.
It was Bandy-legs.
Steve instantly recognized his chum, and this fact, taken with the noise
in the chimney, gave the thing away.
Bandy-legs had tried to play a prank on them, and, as usual, made a sorry
mess of it.
While sitting there and looking at the wide-throated chimney, perhaps his
mind went out to what Jim had told about the curious bear which, hunting
around on the roof of a cabin to ascertain where that fine odor of hams
came from, fell down the chimney.
He would climb upon the roof and lower a make-believe wildcat, fashioned
out of an old moth-eaten skin Jim had thrown away.
That accounted for Bandy-legs' astonishing announcement that he would go
out and gather some of the wood for the night.
It also explained to Max just why he had been stout string that lay upon
the trapper's table. This would be needed in the carrying out of his
trick.
But, like the incautious bear, Bandy-legs had also leaned too far over
the top of the chimney. Perhaps he wanted, not to sniff the smoked hams
below, as in the case of Bruin, but to hear the shouts of consternation
when his make-believe bobcat landed in the fireplace, apparently jumping
up and down as Bandy-legs jerked the string.
The consequence had been that he fell into the opening, and, landing on
all fours, scattered the little fire in every direction.
But seeing that the boy's clothes were really on fire in several places,
Max grabbed up the first thing he could think of that might be depended
on to extinguish the smoldering cloth.
"Hold on, that's my supper!" shouted Trapper Jim, clutching the hand of
Max before he could empty the kettle. "Here's the water-bucket; use
that."
And Max did so, drenching poor dancing Bandy-legs from head to foot with
the contents of the pail.
"That's the time Bandy-legs came near getting more than his share of the
grub," declared Owen, who was busily engaged stamping out some of
the smoldering brands that had been scattered around so promiscuously
when the sprawling figure of the boy landed in their midst.
"Somebody carry that old skin outside," said Trapper Jim. "It's burning
more or less, and we'll have the cabin so full of smell we won't be able
to stay in it much longer."
Toby volunteered to do this, although he had to handle the thing
carefully so as not to get burned.
"I'll go after another bucket of water," remarked Max; "and I'd advise
our practical joker here to jump out of those wet duds and get into some
dry ones in a hurry."
Bandy-legs, looking disgusted and rather silly, was beginning to shiver,
as the door, which now stood open to ventilate the cabin, allowed the
chilly air of approaching evening to enter.
"Guess I will," he remarked; "'cause I've got that wood to gather."
"You bet you have," declared Steve; "we don't let you off from that job.
And when you've got your hand in, we'll expect you to take care of the
fuel business right along, see?"
"See you in Guinea first," muttered Bandy-legs, bristling up.
They could never coax him to tell what he had really intended doing at
the time his treacherous heels slipped on the roof, and he fell down the
big opening through which the smoke escaped.
Still, no one needed explanations. The fact of his lowering the old
abandoned pelt, bundled up so as to look as much like a live bobcat as
possible, spoke for itself.
Somehow or other this trip seemed to be particularly hard on practical
jokers. Owen gravely remarked that all who were ordinarily given to
playing pranks would take notice.
"Needn't look at me that way when you say that," remarked Steve. "I used
to be a great hand for jokes, but never again. I've reformed, I have."
"Y-y-yes, like f-f-fun you have," scoffed Toby, who knew Steve "like a
book," and had no faith in his professed change of heart.
After a while things looked comfortable again.
The fire burned cheerily on the hearth and Jim's kettle, hanging from an
iron bar that could be let down, steamed and bubbled, and began sending
out appetizing odors that even Steve sniffed with less resentment than he
had anticipated.
"What d'ye think of it now, Steve?" asked Uncle Jim.
"Huh, if you mean the smell, why, it ain't so very bad," replied the boy.
"Fact is, makes me think of rabbit stew, some."
"Beats any rabbit you ever ate; just wait," prophesied the trapper, who
knew that once Steve overcame his prejudice he would admit as much
himself.
Bandy-legs had finished dressing, and as he lacked certain garments to
complete his attire, the other boys temporarily helped him out. When his
own were dry he would return the borrowed articles.
As though desirous of doing penance because of his wretched failure as a
prank player, Bandy-legs did work, bringing wood to the outside of the
cabin with unwonted zeal.
Indeed, the trapper finally had to stop him.
"Looks like you meant to swamp us with firewood, son," he remarked,
surveying the pile that was heaped up against the side of the cabin.
"Huh, thought I'd get enough while I was about it," Bandy-legs replied.
"Well, you've done yourself proud, my boy, and I reckon I'd stop now.
We've got all we can use till to-morrow night. And I don't like too big a
stack against the cabin wall. A spark from the chimney might set her
going, and I'd hate to be burned out."
The supper was a success.
Of course they had plenty of other things to eat besides Steve's pet
dish. The boys made sure of this, not fancying the idea of having to
depend upon the musquash alone.
All of them but Steve tasted it and declared it fine. He could not be
coaxed to even sample it at the time; but Old Jim believed Steve would
come around in time.
"It's just because these plump little critters are so common," he
remarked, with a smile of satisfaction, as he emptied the balance of the
stew into his own pannikin. "If they cost four dollars each, now, and
only the millionaires could buy 'em, you'd think they beat anything
going."
"Yes," said bookworm Owen, "that's the way it was with diamond-back
terrapin. Time was in Virginia and North Carolina, yes, in Maryland, too,
when a man hired out to a planter along the coast, he had it entered in
the contract that he was not to be fed on terrapin. They were looked on
at that time as common stuff. To-day the rich pay five dollars apiece for
decent-sized little fellows. You're right, Uncle Jim, it makes a lot of
difference."
Talking in this strain, and picking up useful as well as interesting
information from time to time, as Trapper Jim explained things to the
boys who were his guests, the evening passed pleasantly away.
Even Bandy-legs seemed to forget his recent troubles part of the time.
Max, seeing him rub various portions of his body tenderly, asked whether
he had really been burned. And when the baffled joker was induced to show
several red marks, Max insisted on applying a soothing lotion, which took
out much of the pain.
It was an evening long to be remembered by the boys. Steve's turn to
occupy the extra bunk had come around, and he felt in high feather in
consequence, while the other boys had to select their places on the
floor.
But everyone seemed in the best of humor, and the soft furs promised to
make just as good beds as they could wish.
When Max stepped out just before retiring to see how the weather promised
for the morrow, he found a clear sky, the moon just peeping into view,
and a wholesome tang in the air.
And as Max stood listening to the far-away mournful call of an owl to its
mate, and noted the flood of soft moonlight, it was no wonder he said to
himself:
"I tell you it's good to be here!"