Allen Chapman

“ Fenn was the first one up the next morning. He tumbled out of his blankets, made a hurried toilette, and, a few minutes later was heard to excitedly cry out:
“Here! That’ll do you fellows! A joke’s a joke, but this is too much! Where did you put it, you lobsters?”
“Where did we put what?” asked Bart, sticking his head out of the tent flap. “Why this unseemly noise, Stumpy, my son?”
“You know well enough. Where’s the meat pie?”
“You don’t mean to tell us you’ve gone and walked in your sleep, and eaten that meat pie we were to have for breakfast; have you?” cried Ned. ”

“ The stout lad’s rifle cracked, and by the start the buck gave Bart knew his chum had wounded the animal.
The next instant, after a savage shake of his big head, with the spreading horns, and a stamping of his sharp hoofs, the angry animal sprang forward, straight at Fenn. The lad was excited, and was trying to pump another cartridge into the chamber, but the mechanism of his gun had jammed.
“Jump, Fenn! Jump to one side!” shouted Bart, bringing his rifle around. There was no time to think of the game laws. His chum was in danger, and he would be justified in shooting. ”

“ This gave a new direction to his chase, and he turned to make his way to the spring. He had not taken ten steps before he was again startled by a crashing in the underbrush. He thought it was another rabbit, and he was about to pass on when he looked up, and saw, through the leafless trees, a big buck gazing full at him. It was only for an instant, and before Bart could bring his rifle to bear the deer had bounded off.
“He’s headed for the boiling spring!” cried Bart in his excitement. “Now I’ll get him! I hope I get a shot before it begins to snow, and it’s likely to do it any minute now.” ”

“ Frank went on. “I’ll just throw some of it away. I’ve got lots left.” He emptied part of the batter into a refuse pail, and his face wore such a worried expression as he came back to his task, that Bart and his two chums could not hold back their laughter any longer. As they burst into peals of mirth, Frank glanced up, and saw them spying on him from the tent flap.
“Hu! you fellows think you’re mighty smart, I guess!” he muttered.
“How are you coming on?” asked Bart “Are you stocking up for fear of a blizzard, Frank?” ”

“ He braced the rifle more firmly against his shoulder. There was a further tightening of the tension of his trigger finger, and a report that seemed [231] to the nervous crowd to be as loud as a cannon vibrated on the wintry air.
An instant later there came tumbling from aloft a long wire, that writhed about like some snake, spitting blue flames and sparks. It wiggled about on the ground as a thing alive.
“Keep back! Keep back from that wire!” shouted a lineman. “Good shot, my lad! Great! You cut the wire with one bullet!”
Bart lowered his gun. ”

“ Poor Fenn turned a sickly color, and the rifle fell from his nerveless hands. The shouts continued, and there was a commotion in the bushes.
A little later Alice Keene, with her hands full of bandages, and carrying a small medicine chest, rushed from the house and past the group of terror-stricken lads toward the fence, whence the yells continued to come.
“Oh!” cried the girl. “I was afraid some one would get hurt when you boys used those horrid guns! You had better telephone for a doctor, Bart, while I go see if I can stop the bleeding! Who is hurt?” ”

“ Accordingly, the lads made a cautious approach, but there was no sign of a man, or any one else near the big tree. The approach to the swamp appeared deserted, and on that afternoon, with a dull, leaden sky overhead, and a mournful wind sighing through the trees, Oak Swamp was anything but a cheerful place.
“It’s going to snow,” observed Ned, as they walked slowly on toward the tree.
“Keep quiet,” advised Bart, in a sharp whisper. “The man may be in hiding.” ”

“ A fat toad, one of many, squatted on the box of worms Fenn kept for his “pets,” and two alligators, like twins, waved their long tails to and fro.
“For the love of Mike, what have you here?” cried Bart, pretending to be frightened.
“Good land! You never said you had so many!” added Ned.
“Is it safe to go in? Let me hide behind you, Stumpy. You’re so fat and juicy that they’d grab you first,” said Frank.
For a moment Fenn did not speak. Then he understood the joke that had been played.
“You fellows think you’re awful smart; don’t you?” he demanded. ”

“ But the football season ended anything but brilliantly for Darewell, and the four chums felt this bitterly in their hearts, though they could do no differently than they had done.
“I should think you boys would hire a detective on your own account,” said Alice Keene to her brother, one November evening, when the four chums were at Bart’s house. “You could get one easily, and perhaps he could locate the bracelet for you.”
“We’ll do it ourselves,” remarked Bart firmly.
“If we could only find the turtle we’d have it, I’m sure,” declared Fenn, who had not lost faith in his odd theory. ”

“ CHAPTER XIV BART’S FIRST SHOT
Fenn made a dash for the shelter of a spruce tree, and watched the descending shower of mud and water. It was soon over, and he stepped out again, to view the curious volcano. He crossed the open space, free from snow, and a number of turtles scurried away at his advance.
“That’s how it is,” remarked the lad, “that the turtles are so numerous around here. It’s as warm as toast around that mud volcano, and they don’t have to hibernate. The ones we found near our camp must have wandered away in search of food, and were on their way back here. ”

“ Eh, Stumpy, my lad?” cried Bart good naturedly, clapping his chum on the back. “Take your medicine like a man. You’re stung good and proper. We thought your animals would be lonesome, so we added a few for luck. Pretty, aren’t they?” and, at the sight of Fenn’s bewildered face, Bart went off in a paroxysm of mirth, finally lying down on the ground outside the shack, and rolling over and over.
Frank and Ned joined him, and their howls [19] brought Mrs. Masterson to the back door to see what was the matter. As soon as she saw the four chums she knew, without being told, that it was some joke. ”

“ He looked down at the crowd below. Bart and Fenn gazed upward. How they wished they could help!
“Is that man—that mysterious man gone?” asked Bart, in low tones.
“Yes,” replied Fenn, “he’s hurrying down the street. We’d better take after him, if we want to catch him. He’s getting to be very suspicious of us. We ought to catch him.”
“I know it. If we could only signal Ned or Frank we might run some chance——”
At that moment another lineman, standing near Bart, turned to him, and asked excitedly, as he saw the rifle in the lad’s hand:
“Are you a good shot? A man’s life may depend on it! ”

“ So it was with a feeling of no little satisfaction that Bart and his chums found themselves able to leave the gloomy place sooner than they had expected.
“It’ll be a good joke on the others,” remarked Ned, as he gathered into a heap, the rope fetters that had bound him. “We’ll sneak away, and when those fellows come back for us they’ll think we’ve rolled into the swamp, and sunk, and they may make a search for us. Let’s hide the cords and bandages.”
“Sure,” agreed Frank. “We’ll turn the tables on them.”
“Well, whatever we do, let’s get away from here,” suggested Fenn. ”

“ He practiced at a target occasionally, as did his chums, but they could not begin to equal Bart in making bullseyes, though Ned ran his friend a close second.
The boys tramped about, did the work necessary in camp, hunted and fished and thoroughly enjoyed life during the mild weather of the unexpected thaw. Not that they did not enjoy it when it was cold and snapping, or even snowing, but they could do much more when the weather was milder. ”

“ Some of it was dry, for it was under the low-lying branches of spruce and hemlock trees, and the snow had been kept from it. From the interior of hollow logs some “punk” was obtained, and this, together with some dead branches, that had lodged in a hollow under a big rock, made enough fuel to get a blaze started.
“But where are we going to stay to-night?” asked Frank, when the flickering flames had dispelled some of the darkness.
“Don’t worry about that,” advised Bart. “Some of these fir trees are as good as a tent, and nearly as dry. We can stay under them until morning.” ”

“ The trainman looked about helplessly, for he had not been on the road long. Bart saw his difficulty.
“Here, I’ll break the glass,” volunteered the lad. “Stand back,” Bart produced the black, lucky stone which Jed had given him, and threw it through the glass front.
There was a crashing, splintering sound, and the glass was in fragments. The brakeman could get at the tools, which he quickly did, hurrying out with them.
“Well, that lucky stone came in handy, after all,” remarked Ned. ”

“ Spend Christmas here with us. We’re going to have a good time. Not much in the way of presents, for we didn’t bring any out in the woods, but we’ll have a Christmas tree, even if Bart does want to hang up his stockings,” and Fenn winked at his chums.
“It sounds good,” spoke William, wistfully. “I don’t believe I can get home for Christmas, or I would go see my folks.”
“And we’ll have roast wild turkey, rabbit stew, partridge potpie and bear steak, also some venison, if Bart has any luck,” went on Fenn. ”

“ Would you be willing to part with them? I mean for a consideration, of course. If you would kindly communicate with me. I will pay you a good price for all the turtles you have. But I must make this stipulation, which, at first may seem odd to you. But I have a reason for it. I can not meet you personally. If you are willing to sell your turtles will you write a note to that effect, and leave it in the dead sycamore tree on the edge of Oak Swamp? That is the only way in which you can communicate with me. Kindly let me hear from you soon.’”
As Fenn had said, there was no signature. ”

“ William Lang was busy inspecting his queer pets, and seemed to pay no further attention to his visitors.
“William was always a little queer,” remarked the lineman, as he accompanied the boys outside. “Harmless, but odd. Just daffy on the mud turtle question. I don’t wonder he gave you lots to think about, or that you didn’t quite know how to take him. He is all right except on turtles. He’d walk fifty miles to get a new one. But he’s well off, and can afford to indulge in his fancy.”
As Bart and Fenn turned into the street they saw, coming toward them, Ned and Frank. ”

“ A visit to the mud volcano was made the next day, and there were found to be more turtles than on Fenn’s visit. The volcano was observed in action, much to the wonderment of the three lads, who had never seen anything like it, and once Ned, who was too venturesome, was caught under an unusually large shower of mud.
“Well, let’s go hunting now,” proposed Bart, after a pause. “I haven’t had a decent shot since we came to camp. I’ve got to get that bear before I go back.”
They tramped off through the woods, their eyes eager for a sight of game, large or small. ”

“ Several times Bart stopped to get his bearings. Once he and Fenn disputed about a certain turn, and Bart so insisted that he was right, that the other two lads agreed with him. It grew darker, and they wandered into drifts, stumbled into unexpected hollows, and brought up against trees, sometimes falling over stumps. At last Bart said:
“Fellows, there’s no use going on this way any farther. I’m off the track. I shouldn’t have started out. The fact of the matter is that we’re lost in the woods, and we’ve got to make the best of it!” ”

“ Fenn, for the joke of the thing, rigged up a small Christmas tree, on which were hung pretended gifts.
“Well, let’s get to bed early to-night,” suggested Frank on Christmas eve.
[184]
“And get up a good appetite for my plum pudding,” suggested Fenn. “It’s a dandy! I’ve got it all made, and all I have to do is to warm it, and make the sauce. It’s in that box,” and he pointed proudly to one in the cook tent.
Christmas was ushered in with a snow storm, which made the woods a place of beauty. It was not very cold, and the boys, jumping from their beds, wished each other the joys of the season. ”

“ No telling what game we’ll see on our way back, and going in. We’ll fix up the camp so if we have to stay away over night it will be all right, though I don’t imagine any one will bother it.”
“Unless it’s that mysterious man,” said Ned, significantly. “He may come snooping around.”
“Well, if he does we can’t help it,” replied Bart, “only I’d like to catch him.”
“And I’d like to get back Mrs. Long’s diamond bracelet!” exclaimed Frank, with a flash of his dark eyes. “It’s not pleasant to be considered a thief!”
“Nobody really believes we took it,” declared Fenn. ”