Silas K. Boone

“ Phil, this is the greatest place ever. If you hunted a whole year you couldn't beat it. And we ought to have the time of our lives while we're up at Birch Bark Lodge."
All of them were filled with delight. Being only boys, and with no particular cares weighing heavily on their minds, they refused to see any cloud on the horizon. Everything was as clear and lovely as the sky into which that full moon was climbing so sturdily.
Soon the delightful odors of supper began to pervade the atmosphere. That made it seem more than ever like a real camp. Lub was doing his share of the work like a hero. ”

“ After all X-Ray was right about those clouds, although he did not claim to be a weather prophet, as he had once done. Even as they sat there and made away with the fine breakfast that had been prepared a bright ray of sunlight fell aslant the party; and looking out they could see that the snow had a dazzling appearance.
“Bully for that!” cried X-Ray; “if I didn’t have my breakfast in my lap I’d feel like jumping up and dancing a hornpipe for joy. That means we’ll soon be starting forth on our snow-shoes, eh, Phil?” ”

“ The man had improved remarkably. He was even cheerful, though at times Phil had seen him shake his head, and could hear him sigh. This was always while he was watching Mazie; and it did not require much to tell the boy that whatever was upon the man's troubled conscience concerned his child.
"It's pretty hard to say, Ethan," he told the other; "I can't make up my mind that's he's any sort of a scamp. His actions tell us that, you know."
"And it's hard for me to believe that any man who loves a child as he does that one of his, can be a bad man," Ethan declared, emphatically. ”

“ Nothing to equal it as a life-saver in a pinch.”
“Whew! to hear you talk,” said the astonished Lub, “one would think you really expected to get lost, and roam through the bush for days before you struck our own camp again; but of course you don’t, Phil?”
“If I did think so I’d hesitate about going out,” the other told him. “In doing what I am, Lub, I’m only taking out an insurance policy. No man expects a fire is really going to come and eat up his house; it’s the last thing he looks for; and yet all the same he wants his mind to be at ease. ”

“ And right now I believe I'd rather shoot a moose with a camera than with my Marlin rifle."
Ethan laughed a little, and shook his head.
"I confess that I don't understand it, Phil," he went on to say. "The real thrill must be lacking. You can only get it when you're bent on bagging your game. That's the thrill that comes down to us from our savage ancestors who had to live by hunting."
"I'm able to judge of that, Ethan, because I've tried both ways; and I give you my word I feel just as much pleasure when I'm trying to outwit a cunning fox as you do when you trap one. ”

“ There never were four boys quite as generous as Phil Bradley and his chums. Fond of manly sport they were, and full of a love for frolic, and such good times as came their way; but never failing to respond to a call for help, no matter what the source from which the appeal came.
Phil threw up both hands as if in surrender.
“You never will let me do anything like this by myself, fellows,” he told them; “even when I’ve got money to burn. But I want to say right here that I think ten times as much of you, Lub, X-Ray and Ethan, as if you did. ”

“ Then good-by to peace among the Mountain Boys, for Ethan would never be apt to forgive them the deception.
"That's the main thing, after all, Ethan," Phil added. "One man's food is another man's poison. You enjoy your way of doing things, and I understand how that is, for I'm something of a hunter of small game myself; but I find more real delight in surprising a keen-nosed fox, or a night-roaming raccoon, and getting his photo than in blowing them over with a charge of shot."
"Think there could be any bear up around here, Phil?" asked Lub, over his shoulder. ”

“ For instance, there was the episode of the hornets' nest which poor Lub had kicked on the impulse of the moment, thinking it only a harmless "puff-ball." He would shiver every time some buzzing sound reminded him of his wild flight; but even then Lub had learned a lesson he could never forget.
Phil kept his camera ready for instantaneous use. He knew that if by any great good luck he "jumped" a deer that had been lying down, and sleeping in the heat of the day, it would require considerable presence of mind and a quick action in order to snapshot the animal at close quarters. ”

“ Lub remarked, indignantly.
“And don’t think for a minute,” Ethan broke in with, “that it’s the guides who do things like that. They know better than to kill the goose that lays the golden egg for them. On the contrary, as a rule it is some reckless so-called sportsman who allows his primal passion to have full play when he finds himself up against such a golden opportunity. And I suppose he even makes his boasts of what great feats he performed when he finds himself back home with other fellows about the same build as himself.”
The snow was by this time falling heavily. ”

“ Lub has settled the thing beyond all dispute,” laughed Ethan.
“Well, I guess you’ll find that I’m right,” ventured Lub, who often took himself very seriously, and in this way sometimes intensified the joke.
“How about that grub, chef?” asked Ethan; “that little tramp seems to have put an edge on my appetite.”
“Huh! as if it wasn’t always sharp enough,” Lub told him; “but if there’s nothing more to listen to I suppose I might as well get busy. You see, I’ve got a pot of beans cooking there, which has been on more’n two hours, so I should think the things would be fairly done. ”

“ Chase 'em off, somebody! Help a fellow, won't you? Ouch! they're murdering me by inches. Oh! my stars, what can I do?"
"It's hornets!" shrieked X-Ray, always as quick as a flash.
"Mebbe a swarm of yellow jackets!" suggested Ethan. "I can see something whirling around over his head. Gee! what if he runs here and gives us a dose? The cabin for mine."
"Hold on," called out Phil, taking in the situation, and then raising his voice he shouted to the terrified Lub: "Throw off your hat as you run. There, that'll attract some. Now your coat. Never mind a sting or two, but do as I say." ”

“ Every time there's a fresh gust of wind it waves back and forth, and scraping against the roof makes that funny sound. Now, I hope your mind's easy, Lub, and that you'll sleep decent to-night."
"I hope I will," replied Lub, earnestly, at the same time remembering about the bunks, and what one of the others had said with regard to house-cleaning in the morning; "but say, it is a fine night, ain't it, Ethan. Listen to the frogs singing their chorus in some little bay of the lake." ”

“ Situated in the heart of the virgin forest, with the ax of the logger still a stranger to the splendid growth of timber, it seemed to offer them a glorious opportunity for spending their fortnight there in the wilderness.
The boys jumped to the ground, and commenced exercising their arms so as to induce a better circulation of blood.
“No need of that, fellows,” laughed Phil; “we’re going to have plenty of things to do to tire you out before we get settled here. Grab hold, and unload the sledge to begin with. ”

“ Now, according to my notion, that was a fine thing for him to say."
"Mebbe so," remarked Ethan. "I've heard my father say that the best men are those who've been through the fire, done some wrong, and repented, so that they think they must spend the rest of their lives making good. And between us I kind of fancy Mazie's daddy. He seems to be a pretty nice man."
"Mazie evidently thinks there isn't another like him in the whole world," Phil told him; "look at her now as she sits there holding his hand. Why, Ethan, believe me, I can see what looks mighty like a tear running down his cheek. ”

“ I’ve read about how hunters up here in Canada chase the moose when a crust forms on the deep snow, and I want to try it for myself.”
“That is reckoned the best time for hunting,” Phil explained; “though it doesn’t seem hardly fair to the caribou or the moose. You see, with their weight and their sharp hoofs they break through the crust at every jump, and flounder more or less in the drifts; while the hunter on his broad snow-shoes glides swiftly along, and can easily overtake the strongest of them.” ”

“ It was no time to even mention anything concerning the stirring adventure with that stubborn and combative moose bull. Later on he could relate the story, and perhaps show them the pictures he had taken, to prove his marvelous tale.
"Man up in the woods here a ways, with a broken leg!" he started to say.
"Whee! is that so?" exclaimed Ethan.
"Mazie's 'daddy' for a cookey!" cried X-Ray, always the first to alight on a solution to a puzzling question.
"Yes, that's who he is," Phil went on, jerking out his words somewhat, because he was using up his wind in running. ”

“ CHAPTER VI—A QUARREL OVER THE GAME
“I’m getting to do first-rate at it, don’t you think, Phil?” asked X-Ray, after they had been moving along for an hour and more.
“Yes, you seem to have mastered the trick all right,” he was told, “though you did take a few headers when you grew too confident. Snow-shoes can only be successfully mastered through experience. They are clumsy things to a novice, and apt to play all sorts of sly tricks on him. I’ve seen a chap with both feet sticking up out of a drift; and unable to get out alone.” ”

“ It was no fault of his that the moose chanced to be in an ugly humor; and just then, if Phil Bradley had had any sort of firearm along he would have felt justified in dispatching that furious animal. Game laws are good things, but even they must be broken when one's life is placed in jeopardy. ”

“ That pleased Ethan, for he was full of eagerness. The love for hunting ran full and strong in his veins. Phil used to be built in the same way, but since discovering the peculiar fascination of hunting with a flashlight camera he seemed to be losing much of his former liking for killing game. He would much rather spend his time playing his skill and brains against the natural caution of the wearers of fur, in endeavoring to photograph them in their native haunts. ”

“ Phil explained, "it would be a hard job to get horses to the lake. And then the going would be so tough he'd suffer terribly. So as near as I can see it looks as if we'd have to work that stretcher again."
"Huh! I like that!" grunted Ethan, though he must have meant it in sarcasm, for his tone showed anything but enthusiasm. "We all congratulated ourselves on the way up here on the fact that we'd have it easy going out of the woods, because all that canned stuff and other grub would be devoured. And now by jinks! if we don't have to lug a man out. ”

“ Bodman might be a bad hater,” mused Phil; “and all I hope is he doesn’t get a chance to give us trouble while we’re up here.”
“Why, how could he do that, Phil; the woods are free to every one; and I’m sure we paid for our hunting licenses as he did, if he is worth his millions. In what way could he injure us?”
“Mind, I don’t say he will try to do anything,” urged Phil. “Fact is, I hope on second thought the man may come to the conclusion he made a fool of himself. Perhaps he’ll hide until we go away, and then return to get his share of the meat. ”

“ Brandon that he says it is a pleasure to just open my box. Of course all of you fellows like frogs'-legs?"
Phil and X-Ray Tyson immediately declared they believed they could never get enough of the dainty.
"To tell you the honest truth," said Lub, contritely, "I never tasted any that I know of. My folks don't seem to care for queer things."
"Queer things!" almost shouted Ethan; "well, I like that now! Why, don't you know that frogs'-legs are as delicate as squab. You'd think you had a spring chicken, only when you come to think, it has just a little taste of fish about it." ”

“ There was more color creeping into the face of the unknown child, Phil discovered. He did not believe anything serious could have come upon him, and hoped for the best.
“I really think he’s sleeping from exhaustion and fright now,” he told the others, after they had bundled their charge up snugly, and were sitting there before the glowing fire, with both Lub and X-Ray impatiently waiting to hear all about the remarkable occurrence; for it is not often that hunters start out after moose and return bearing a child that they have saved from being frozen to death. ”

“ Phil continued. "That's one reason they let it alone so much. Other lakes lie in bunches, and a canoe can be taken over a carry from one to another in the chain; but Surprise is an awful lonely sheet of water."
"And that's how it must have got its name," added Ethan. "All the while nobody dreamed there was any such lake up here; and then all at once a wandering guide must have run headlong on the same, to his surprise."
"Wish we were there on the bank right now," grunted Lub. ”

“ Phil looked up at the sky. It was only a part of his customary caution, and not that he really expected there would be any signs of trouble in that quarter.
“All right, then, Ethan; get your gun and your snow-shoes. We’ll take that scout and see if we can find out anything worth while.”
“I hope both of you keep your eyes smartly about you while you’re passing along through the woods,” urged Lub. “A mad dog is a terrible thing to run across; and for all we know the beast might have got away.” ”

“ Among themselves, of course, they talked it all over, and knew that Mazie must be the child who had been the sole companion of the lonely occupant of the cabin.
"Too bad if it turns out he's a scoundrel, and a law breaker, with such a bully little girl belonging to him."
X-Ray Tyson said this, looking as he spoke at the suspiciously new coin he had picked out of a crack in the floor, and which he fully believed had been molded right there in that isolated cabin.
"Don't count too much on that," remarked Phil; "you can tell that she loves daddy above everything on earth. ”

“ The very thing you are depending on to save you turns out your worst enemy when you treat it the wrong way. Now watch me make a little speed, Phil.”
“Take care. Pride goes before a fall, they say. There, that’s the time you did manage to tumble in good earnest.”
“Help me up, that’s a good fellow, Phil. I guess I’ll feel my way after this. You may think you have mastered snow-shoes, but as you say they can spring a trick on you unawares. Your feet get twisted, and of course down you flop. ”

“ Step by step Ethan pushed away from the dangerous locality. The bear did not attempt to follow, but resumed his former way of pushing out his snout, and sniffing. Something evidently smelled mighty good to him, Lub thought.
"This is all very well," ventured X-Ray Tyson, who had also managed to arm himself with a billet of wood, "but somebody tell me what the end's going to be. Do we have to camp outside in the cold, cold world; or will we invite Mr. Bear to skip? That's what I want to know. Phil, how about it?" ”

“ He has licked lots of other scrappers in his time, and you couldn’t expect them to say nice things about Baylay. So let’s hold off a bit, and not condemn him unheard.”
Even Ethan admitted that such a course was nothing more than fair.
“We’ll wait then,” continued Phil, “till the time comes when we can see into his home, and find out if he’s a big brute there or not. Yes, that’s the way to learn the truth; surface indications don’t amount to much. You’ve got to scratch a man on the back and find out what he does when he’s alone, or with his own family, to learn his real nature.” ”