INTO THE WILDERNESS.
Brick struggled back to his senses amid strange surroundings. He was
lying on a soft bearskin in a small, picturesquely-furnished room. A
wood fire blazed in one corner, and a lamp swung from the ceiling.
Three of the walls of the apartment were of hard, polished clay,
ornamented with groups of guns, fishing rods and paddles. The fourth was
of heavy timber, and contained a door and a shuttered window. Deer and
bear robes covered the floor. Here rested two canvas canoes, and there
lay a light cedar skiff.
Two lads stood by the fire. One, about eighteen, was tall and well knit,
with dark hair and a swarthy, honest face. The other was shorter and
thicker, and possibly a year younger.
"Hullo!" exclaimed Brick, as he pulled himself to a sitting position.
The strangers hastened to his side.
"How do you feel?" asked the elder lad. "I was just going for a doctor."
"I'll be all right pretty soon," replied Brick. "I've got a thumping
headache, though."
"And no wonder, with a bruise like that over your eye. Do you remember
what happened?"
"Yes," answered Brick, "up to a certain point. But how did I get here?"
"We heard the racket, and ran out with our guns and a lantern. We saw a
man jump from a boat down near the water. We chased him a short
distance, and he fired at us twice. We found you lying on the bottom
with an ugly bruise on your forehead, and between us we got you up
here."
"You certainly saved my life," declared Brick, gratefully, "and you
saved something else, too. This is what the ruffian was after. You
scared him off before he could find it."
He unbuttoned his jacket, and drew out the pocketbook. Then, in a few
words, he related the whole adventure to his new friends.
"I'm lucky to escape with a bruise and the loss of my overcoat," he
concluded. "It would have been ten times worse but for you fellows."
"Here is your coat," said the younger lad. "We stumbled over it when we
were chasing the rascal. Were there any valuables in it?"
"Only a couple of letters from my father," replied Brick, as he went
through the pockets of the garment. "By Jove! they're gone, though. The
thief will find he's made a valuable haul."
Brick spoke in jest. He little dreamed what use would be made of the
stolen letters, or what a harvest of trouble he was destined to reap
from their loss.
"I'm feeling considerably better now," he added. "I'm glad of it, for
I'll have to be moving soon. It's getting late, and---- Hullo!
something just struck me. I believe you're the very chaps I'm looking
for. This is a queer go."
The lads exchanged puzzled glances. Possibly they thought that the blow
had deranged Brick's mind.
"I'll bet anything your names are Jerry Brenton and Hamp Foster, and
this is the dug-out in the bluff," resumed Brick. "Am I right?"
The boys nodded in open-mouthed wonder.
"I'm Jerry Brenton," admitted the elder.
"And Hamp Foster is my name," added his companion, "but I never saw you
before."
"Of course you didn't," declared Brick. "Do you fellows remember Tom
Fordham, the chap from New York that spent a vacation here two summers
ago, and had such jolly times with both of you?"
A light broke on the boys.
"We remember Tom," they exclaimed, with enthusiasm.
"And did you ever hear him talk of his best chum, Brick Larkins?"
"Often," replied Hamp. "But you ain't----"
"Yes, I am, too. I'm Brick Larkins, and I'm awfully glad to meet you
fellows. The way I come to be here is this: Tom and I entered Columbia
College last fall, and a couple of weeks ago I got into a scrape and
was dropped for a term. I wasn't going to spend the time on a lot of
musty books, so I concluded I'd come up to Maine, and go deer hunting.
My folks are in Europe, and a lawyer down in New York is my guardian as
far as money matters go. I'm my own master in other ways, and I've got
cash enough to see me through for a while. I understand from Tom that
the father of one of you chaps is a guide. I want him to take me into
the woods for a few weeks. I'm willing to pay his price, whatever it
is."
"I'm the one," replied Jerry, soberly; "but my father is laid up with
rheumatism, and won't be able to make any trips this winter."
"I'm awfully sorry," said Brick. "Perhaps I can get another guide. Look
here, are you fellows in any trouble? You both look pretty downhearted,
if you'll pardon me for saying so."
The boys were reluctant to speak, but Brick finally compelled them to
admit that they were in serious trouble, and that they had come to the
dug-out that evening to have a quiet talk over the matter.
Two months before Hamp's father had been drowned by the foundering of
his lumber barge in a storm. What little money he left was soon spent,
and now Hamp had just been thrown out of employment by the closing of
the mills in which he worked. Unless he speedily found a new place, his
mother and sister would be in actual want.
Jerry was confronted by an equally dismal prospect. He could get no work
to do, and money was sorely needed for his sick father. His mother had
formerly earned a little by sewing, but her time was now required for
the invalid.
Brick pondered the situation for a little while. He could see that the
boys were proud, and that it would never do to offer money. At last he
hit upon a bright idea.
"Look here," he said, "I'll bet you fellows know as much about the woods
as regular guides. Tom always said so, anyway. How is it?"
"Hamp and I have been out with my father a good deal," replied Jerry,
modestly. "We've been to Moosehead Lake and Chesumcook."
"And we're pretty fair shots," added Hamp. "We've been in at the death
of more than one bear or deer. If it wasn't for our being so young we
might get employment as guides. We were talking about that this
evening."
"I wouldn't want better guides," declared Brick. "If you fellows will
take me into the woods I'll pay each of you fifteen dollars a week, and
stand all expenses. Before we start I'll pay in advance for three
weeks."
He opened his pocketbook and showed the contents.
"I can easily afford it," he added. "I have nearly five hundred
dollars."
The boys were dazzled by this munificent offer. It brought tears to
their eyes to think of the relief that money would bring to the
afflicted ones at home.
"You're awfully kind," said Jerry, in a tremulous voice. "I'll gladly go
if my father will let me. And I'm sure he will."
"I know my mother won't object," added Hamp.
"Then it's as good as settled," declared Brick. "I can hardly wait till
we're off. I've been wanting to see the Maine wilderness for years."
"Know much about guns or hunting?" asked Jerry.
"Mighty little," Brick candidly admitted. "I never shot anything bigger
than a blackbird in my life. Game don't run loose in New York."
"We'll show you sport enough," promised Hamp. "Just wait till we strike
the deer."
The three lads fell to chatting with the freedom of old friends, and
Brick quite forgot his aching head.
During the next few days all arrangements were made, and Brick provided
himself and companions with a lavish outfit.
Brick had reported his adventure to the police, but without success. Mr.
Pendergast had doubtless left the town.
The ground was covered with snow to the depth of half a foot on the
crisp December afternoon when the young hunters landed at Katahdin Iron
Works--the terminus of the Bangor and Katahdin Iron Works Railroad.
They were now more than one hundred and fifty miles from the coast, and
very nearly in the center of Maine.
On the following morning they hired a sledge and driver, and were
transported thirty miles northward--to the end of a rugged lumber trail.
The next day they pushed ahead on foot, trailing two hand sleds, to
which were strapped their provisions, guns, and various needed
supplies.
By sundown they reached one of the eastern arms of Moosehead Lake, and
built a-temporary lean-to among the rocks and trees. They were now in
the actual wilderness, miles and miles from civilization.