HARRY’S PRIZE.
“Is it gold?” queried Jack, as he and the others clustered around their
kneeling companion.
“Not quite, but there is some silver there,” replied Harry. “Wait till
I spread the coins out on the bench over there.”
He walked to a bench beneath one of the windows, and, turning up the
stocking, which was covered with mold, and ready to fall apart, he
allowed some forty coins of all sizes to roll out.
“Not a gold coin in the lot!” sighed Boxy. “And I was thinking you
might have struck a fortune!”
“Here are half-a-dozen silver coins, worth at least twenty-five cents
to a dollar,” said Jack, as he handled them one after another. “Just
see how old they are! Some of them date away back to sixteen and
seventeen hundred!”
“I have an idea they are worth a neat sum,” said Harry, with sparkling
eyes. “You must remember that coin collectors pay pretty good prices
for some coins.”
“By creation! I never thought of that!” cried Andy. “Maybe there is a
fortune after all.”
“The collection is certainly worth something,” said Jack, slowly. “And
I hope, for Harry’s sake, that it proves valuable, for the find belongs
to him.”
“We’ll share and share alike,” began Harry, but the others cut him
short. They all loved their companion, and were only too glad to throw
a chance of making something in his way.
The coins were carefully sorted over, and then Harry tied them in his
handkerchief and put them in a safe place inside of his clothes. He
calculated that the collection ought to bring him in at least fifty or
a hundred dollars, and to a person in his reduced circumstances this
was worth obtaining.
After this, the remainder of the contents of the chest, consisting of
some clothing and a few books, which fell apart as soon as removed, was
taken out. There was nothing more of value.
On the walls of the cottage were found several old engravings
representing a naval battle and several religious executions. Jack took
these and placed them flat in his game-bag.
“It’s about time now that we got back to the trail,” he said. “We have
lost an hour here.”
“Well, I for one don’t begrudge the time,” said Boxy, and all,
especially Harry, said the same.
With a last look around, they left the cottage, shutting the door
behind them. It was the first time that the place had been visited for
years, and perhaps it would be even longer before it would be visited
again.
They were soon on the trail again, and hurrying along as fast as the
roughness of the country would permit. Up one hill and down another
they went, around great rocks and across numerous tiny streams, until
at last they struck the end of the valley in which they had shot the
deer the day previous.
“I must confess I am tired,” remarked Andy, with an effort. “We must
have covered a good many miles since we started.”
“We have,” returned Jack. “But I--hold on, what is that ahead?”
As he uttered the last words, Jack motioned the others to stop. At the
same time he pointed to where a rough lean-to rested against a wall of
rocks all of twenty feet high.
“That’s some kind of a ranch,” returned Harry. “And, my gracious! there
is our sled standing outside!” he burst out. “Boys, we have found those
fellows at last!”
“Bettah be cahful,” warned Pickles. “Da may be mighty tough customahs
to deal wid!”
“See that your guns are ready,” ordered Jack, sternly. “We’ll lay down
the law to them, no matter who they are.”
Every member of the Zero Club at once complied. Boxy was a trifle
nervous, but he did his best to hide it. Jack and Harry, as the natural
leaders of the crowd, went to the front.
Before the lean-to ran a small mountain stream, now frozen solid.
Between that and the shelter smoldered a fire, and around this were
scattered a large quantity of chicken feathers and the heads of two of
the barnyard fowls.
“They have evidently been having a chicken dinner,” murmured Harry.
“Wonder why they didn’t go out and shoot some game?”
“Maybe they are no sportsmen,” returned Jack. “It is very seldom that
tramps are. And, besides, if they would steal our traps, they wouldn’t
hesitate to carry off some farmer’s chickens.”
“There doesn’t seem to be any one around,” went on Harry, after a
pause, in which all of the party surveyed the situation as closely as
possible.
“Perhaps they have gone off on a hunt. Hullo!” Jack went on, in a loud
voice.
No answer came back, and no one appeared in sight, so, without further
hesitation, the five boys walked boldly into the camp and began to
inspect it.
As has been said, their sled stood upon the outside of the lean-to.
Inside were their traps, nothing missing but a plate or two and one of
the pots.
“Thank fortune we have recovered our stuff!” exclaimed Jack. “Had it
been otherwise, our tour would have come to a most inglorious end.”
“These fellows have blankets and cooking utensils of their own,”
remarked Harry. “Now, what could possess them to steal our stuff?”
“They expected to cart it off and sell it, most likely,” replied Andy.
“Those blankets would bring ten or twelve dollars at least, and the
other articles several dollars more.”
“Shall we wait here till they come back?” asked Boxy.
“Certainly we’ll wait,” returned Jack. “We’ll give them a piece of our
mind if nothing else.”
“Dar is only t’ree of dem,” said Pickles. “An’ we is five ag’in dem.”
“Besides, we’ll lay for them and take them by surprise,” added Harry.
“Ah! there are our rabbits and squirrels tied up in a tree.”
And he started at once to cut down the game.
“That proves they must have had those chickens before they struck our
camp,” said Andy. “I wonder how soon they will be back.”
“Here come four men on horseback!” suddenly cried Harry, with a glance
down the valley.
“Four men!” cried Jack. “Sure enough! They can’t be the fellows that
belong to this place.”
“Maybe they do.”
“But there are only outfits for three here.”
“They may have found a companion,” suggested Boxy.
“And what of the horses?” questioned Jack.
“If they would steal our stuff, they would steal horses, too,” returned
Harry. “Perhaps they are a regular set of backwoods outlaws.”
“We’ll be on our guard!” cried Boxy. “Those fellows have discovered us,
and are riding for this place just as fast as they can.”
Boxy was right. The four horsemen had been proceeding somewhat slowly,
but now they started on a gallop, the foremost pointing with extended
arm toward the lean-to.
“I don’t like the looks of that crowd,” said Harry, as they drew
closer. “Every one of them has a shotgun over his saddle.”
“See! see! they are aiming at us!” cried Andy. “They evidently imagine
we are going to run away!”
“Hold on, you fellows!” roared the leading horseman, as he drew within
hearing distance. “Don’t you dare to stir unless you want to get a dose
of buckshot into you!”
The boys gathered into a group near the fire, and a few seconds later
the horsemen surrounded them, each with his shotgun ready for use.
“There be them chickens, Jim, ez sure ez you air born!” cried one of
the men. “I told yeou them rascals cum this way!”
“Will rob an honest farmer’s hen-roost, will yeou?” burst out another
of the men. “Four o’ ’em an’ a coon! Put down yeour guns, yeou scamps,
or we’ll fill yeour hides so full o’ shot yeou can’t stand!”
Simultaneously, the four men sprang down into the snow, and came
forward. At a glance it was plain to see that they were a quartet of
hard-working and honest farmers.
“We’ll march the lot o’ ’em over to Bagsville, and have Squire Riggins
sit on the case,” said the leader. “We’ll teach ’em how to come up here
an’ steal our lawful property!”
[Illustration: “Will rob an honest farmer’s hen-roost, will yeou?” See
page 174.]