THE LODGE OF MANY WONDERS
"There's Obed right now, waving at us from the doorway of his cabin,"
announced Steve, even as they looked at the picture made by the little
log structure nestling so cozily under the dark foliage of the resinous
trees that never lost their green look, even when snow covered the
mountains to the depth of several feet.
They hurried forward to join the owner of the woods lodge, who had
evidently expected them to put in an appearance about this time of day,
figuring just when they would break camp, and how long it would take
them to make the "carry."
He shook hands with each of his new-found friends in turn, and warmly,
too. Even Bandy-legs seemed to feel that his unworthy suspicions of the
other could have no foundation, to judge from the hearty way in which he
greeted Obed.
Max was quick to see that Obed looked pleased at their coming. He also
wondered why the other seemed to raise his eyebrows now and then, and
smile as though certain thoughts he entertained were quite amusing. But,
then, seeing what a lonely life the young fur farmer must be leading, so
far away from his kind, and wrapped up in his singular calling, after
all, it was not so queer that he should act in this way, upon having
visitors, and boys of his own age, in the bargain.
They were ushered inside the lodge, and here another surprise greeted
them. Max in particular was astonished to find that the small building
contained so much in the way of comforts. If he had thought of the
matter at all, he probably expected to find just an ordinary shack, such
as nine boys in ten would be contented with building, and that Obed was
putting up with all sorts of discomforts.
The contrary proved to be the truth, for there were numerous things in
sight to cause a visitor to express surprise. Why, Obed even used
_aluminum cooking utensils_ equal to theirs, though not meant for
camping particularly; there were several rocking chairs, and one big
fireside chair that looked mighty inviting indeed, as it flanked the
broad hearth where Obed had a blaze going.
The kitchen lay at the back, and actually had a wood stove in it,
capable of baking bread or biscuits on occasion. Water, too, had been
piped to the cabin from some spring farther up the rise; though, in the
dead of winter a supply must of necessity be obtained from some other
source since this would be frozen up.
These things, and many others along the same line, caused Max to survey
Obed with a new source of wonder. Who was this remarkable boy, and how
on earth did he come to possess such a magical lodge up here in the
unpeopled wilderness? Why, a rich man could hardly have surrounded
himself with more in the way of comforts; and yet, according to his
language, and his account of himself, Obed was only an ordinary child of
the woods, one of the very numerous Grimes tribe, many of whom doubtless
gained their living by serving as guides in season.
Max, after staring around him in due wonder and admiration, turned again
to Obed. He could see that the other was observing them with that merry
twinkle in his eyes? and evidently expecting his guests to express
amazement at finding so wonderful a habitation where they had
anticipated so little.
"Its just splendid, that's the only word I can find to express my
feelings, Obed," Max hastened to say, at which the other laughed aloud.
"Course, now, you-all are awonderin' jest how a poor woods boy like me
'd ever git hold o' such a clever cabin," he went on to say; "but
shucks! that's an easy one to explain. Yuh see, it was built by a man
who had plenty o' money and poor health. He thought he could get well by
stayin' here, and so he fixed her up to beat the band. That big chair he
loved to sit in when the fire was agoin'. But jest as he got fixed so
nice his wife sent for him to come back home; and, say, he had to go.
So, havin' no use for his place here, he turned it over tuh me for a
song, I c'n show yuh the bill o' sale. Yuh see, I got to know Mr. Coombs
right well, for he was interested in my ijee o' startin' a fur farm.
Well, he's dead now. I often think when I'm sittin' here enjoyin' what
he built that somehow his spirit must be a hoverin' around, cause he
certainly _did_ love this place a heap."
The explanation entirely satisfied Max, though of course that skeptic of
a Bandy-legs had to let his eyebrows go up in an arch as he listened;
but then Bandy-legs would doubt anything that savored of the uncommon.
Max simply frowned at him and paid no more attention to his manner.
"You were certainly mighty lucky to fall heir to such a lovely little
home as this, Obed," Steve was saying, with a streak of envy in his
voice. "Say, I'd just be tickled half to death now if I could spend a
month up here with you. There must be plenty of game around, I reckon;
and it'd be a real delight to keep house in a little palace like this.
But how are you going to tuck us away for the night, Obed, if I might be
so bold as to ask, seeing that as yet we haven't had an invite to stay
over?"
"Oh! that's easily managed," replied the other, with, another of his
queer laughs. "You haven't begun to see all the wonders o' this lodge.
Mr. Coombs amused himself for a whole summer havin' it built. He put a
heap o' his own ijees into the same, too. Yuh see, he used to be a sea
captain once on a time, and that gave him the notion to have tables that
folded against the wall so as tuh take mighty little room. Then seem' as
how he might expect to have company some time or other, look how he
fixed the bunks along the walls."
With that Obed turned a button that none of them had thus far noticed,
fastened on the wall Immediately a section slipped down exposing a
cavity beyond that proved to be a regular sleeping bunk, fully capable
of "housing" any ordinary person. It was plain to be seen that his sea
education had given Mr. Coombs the idea carried out in this remarkable
fashion.
"Beats anything I ever struck!" admitted the admiring Steve, as he
pushed forward to peep inside the cavity that seemed to offer such a
comfortable bed.
"But hardly big enough for the whole bunch of us, I'm afraid, Obed,"
urged Bandy-legs, with the idea, of course, of drawing the other out.
"This is one bunk," said Obed, calmly, "there are three jest like it
along the two walls, makin' four in all. So yuh see it's jest like Mr.
Coombs, he figgered on my having you-all stop over with me some fine
day. Then I c'n make up a bed on that 'ere couch, which is softer 'n any
o' the bunks. _He_ used to sleep, on it all the time, did Mr. Coombs."
"Well, I must say this is a revelation to me," admitted Max, his face
showing how pleased he felt. "And you were lucky, as Steve here just
said, to fall in with such a fine man as Mr. Coombs, at the time you
started your fur farm. I suppose it was the interest he took in it that
made him hand over this cabin, when he learned that his plans for
staying here could never be carried out."
"Why, yes, mostly that," agreed Obed, turning a little red. "P'raps I
ought to tell yuh that I chanced to do Mr. Coombs a little favor when we
first met. Yuh see, I happened to come on him in the woods. He'd started
out to find a certain kind o' sapling that he wanted right bad to use;
and not bein' used to findin' his way around, he jest naturally got
lost. But that wasn't the wust o' it. In using his ax to chop down a
sapling he kim across, what did he do but cut his foot, and it was
bleeding like fun when I ketched his shouts, and kim up. Course, I soon
fixed that foot, and since he was only a little dried-up speck o' a man
I managed to tote him on my back most ways home here. He chose to think
I'd done him a _great_ favor, and after that he was always sayin' he
meant to repay me some day. Well, he certainly did when he turns over
this here neat contraption at a price that was dirt cheap, and which I'd
be ashamed to mention to yuh. That's how it come I got this cabin."
How simple the explanation was after all, and how Bandy-legs must feel
his cheeks burn with shame at the thought of having suspected this same
Obed of trying to deceive them. Max could easily picture the ex-sea
captain seated in that capacious fireside chair with the tufted cushion,
and perhaps smoking his long-stemmed pipe with the air of a man who
believed he had found what he had long sought, peace and comfort
combined, only to have a summons come that he dared not disobey.
"Make yourselves to hum," said Obed, cheerily. "Here, drop the packs
over in this corner. If later on so be yuh want to git anything out o'
the same it'll be easy done. And seein' as I've got dinner started, I
guess we wont take a turn around the farm till it's been stowed away."
Although, of course, all of the boys were eager to see what a fur farm
looked like, where those wonderful black foxes that brought such, a big
price in the London markets were being bred in captivity, none of them
objected to sitting down and taking a rest. Bandy-legs and Steve in
particular made a bolt for the big chair, though the latter was too
quick for his competitor, and managed to ensconce himself within its
capacious embrace before Bandy-legs arrived.
"Start earlier next time, Bandy-legs!" crowed the proud possessor of the
coveted seat, as he spread himself so as to occupy it all. "But after
I've tried it out I'll vacate, because I expect to get busy in that
bully little kitchen, and help friend Obed sling the grub for dinner."
So Bandy-legs had to content himself with a seat on the couch. He might
have been observed sniffing the air with avidity, however, as though he
had caught some enticing odor stealing out of the oven of the cook
stove, that was not unlike fresh bread being well browned; and there was
nothing Bandy-legs loved better than the crust part of a fresh
baking--he always had a compact with the cook at home to save him the
"run-over" portions, which he looked upon as a prize well worth having.
Soon Obed left them there in the larger room and vanished within the
kitchen. It was a challenge to Steve which he could not long resist.
Bandy-legs kept watching him glance toward the connecting doors. His
whole manner was that of a boy who, although making no sound, might be
"sicking" one dog on another. No sooner had Steve left the capacious
fireside chair than Bandy-legs slipped into it; and after that he was
not meaning' to be dislodged until the summons came to gather about the
table to discuss the midday meal. Bandy-legs liked eating as well as the
next one; but he loved his ease more, and was well content to have some
other fellow do the hard work of getting the meal ready; his time would
come when he had to "work his jaws" in disposing of his portion of the
spread.
The more Max looked about him the greater his wonder became. All manner
of thoughts surged through that active mind of his. He had already
conceived the greatest sort of secret admiration for the extraordinary
woods boy, even before he had glimpsed that remarkable fur farm which
the other was successfully running. Plainly, then, this same Obed Grimes
was bound to be a credit to his family; and all those people bearing the
strange names given by Obed would some day find cause to feel proud of
having such an enterprising relative.
Obed proved to be a pretty good cook, despite the humility with which he
had remarked that of course he could not expect to compete on even terms
with fellows who had had so many better opportunities to acquire the
"knack" of things, than had come his way.
The bread was as fine as any Bandy-legs had ever eaten in his own home,
where a high-priced cook held sway over the kitchen. There was also a
meat pie that seemed delicious, both as to crust and contents, when
opened; though Obed in-formed them that it was made of canned beef, and
even displayed the recent tin jacket, with its telltale label, as
confirmation to his assertion.
"Yuh see, boys," he remarked, laughingly, "I don't want yuh to think I'd
poach a deer in the close season, and palm it off as mountain mutton,
like they do at some o' the big hotels up here in the Adirondacks, I'm
told. Course I do shoot a deer once in a while in season; and lots o'
pa'tridges, they bein' so tame yuh c'n knock them over as they sit on
the lower limb o' a tree after flushin'. I ketch wheens o' trout, too,
from time to time; but I give yuh my word I never yet killed anything
when the law was on it, never!"
When Obed said a thing in his emphatic way, he was to be relied on, Max
thought. The woods boy could look very sober at times, though, as a
rule, there was that merry gleam in his eye that told how much he loved
a joke.
Altogether they had a delightful meal, and what was even better, there
was an abundance to give every one three bountiful helpings, which fact
pleased Bandy-legs and Steve in particular. The former, on passing his
plate--for they actually had such articles at this wonderful lodge under
the pines--for the third help, excused himself by remarking aside:
"It's queer what a _terrible_ appetite toting a pack a few miles over a
carry gives a fellow. Now, at home I'm generally satisfied with one
portion, but once let me get into the harness, and I seem to have no end
of _capacity_. Say, I'd eat you out of house and home, Obed, if I stayed
very long at your ranch."
"No danger o' that, I guess, Bandy-legs," replied the other, for he had
of course taken quite naturally to calling these new friends by their
customary names, just as boys always do get on quick terms of
familiarity. "Last time I went to town I laid in quite a wheen o' stuff.
Then there's always the crick to git trout outen; and in a short time
you could shoot pa'tridges without breakin' the game laws. So don't let
that worry yuh any. I'm on'y too tickled to have some fellers around. It
does git kinder lonely here, sometimes, I own up."
"Whew! I should think it would, Obed," said Steve, lost in admiration
for the amazing nerve displayed by the woods boy in remaining all by
himself, winter and summer, seldom, if ever, seeing a human face, and
apparently devoting all his energies to making his fur farm experiment
turn out to be a success. "Nothing would tempt me to stick it out here a
whole winter. Why, I'd die of the blues, and let the black foxes go to
the dickens, while I made break for the nearest town, so I could hear
the sound of a human voice."
Obed looked at him gravely, and heaved a sigh.
"Yep, I feels that ways, too, sometimes, Steve," he said presently; "and
let me tell yuh the temptation is nigh more'n I c'n stand; but I jest
shuts my teeth together, and tells myself that I started in to do this
job, and I'm agoin' to stick it out or know the reason why. Then I git
my second wind agin' and it's all right. Once I used to give in right
easy, but I'm broke now o' that bad habit, I guess."