Harry Castlemon

“ Having landed his passengers and pocketed his money, Silas Morgan made his way toward the cabin with so much haste that he again drew the attention of the boys, who gazed after him with no little surprise and curiosity. Silas was as lazy as a man ever gets to be, and Joe and Dan could not imagine what had happened to put so much life into him. ”

“ It won't always be as hot as it is to-day. Winter will be here before long, the roads will be blocked with drifts, and if this wood ain't down to the beach directly, me and the ole woman will have to shiver over a bare hearth."
With this reflection to put life and energy into him, Silas straightened up and turned toward the wood-pile with slow and reluctant steps, all unconscious of the fact that every move he made was closely watched by two recumbent figures, who, snugly concealed by a thicket of evergreens, a short distance away, had distinctly caught every word of his soliloquy. ”

“ He appeared to be gazing steadily at some object that was hidden from Joe's view by the corner of the house.
"How do you reckon he feels over the trick we played on him this morning?" said Dan, with a grin. "He thinks he's a sharp one, pap does, but he ain't got no business along of me."
"If there was any trick played upon him, you did it, and not I," answered Joe. "Father hasn't worked half as hard as we have, and yet he is just as well—What in the name of wonder is that?" ”

“ It did, indeed, look dark and lonely in there; so much so, in fact, that if Dan had shown the least sign of fear, Silas would have faced about at once, and made the best of his way back to the cabin, leaving the treasure to stay where it was until the mildew and rust had eaten it up.
"Them thick bushes shuts out all the light of the sun, don't they?" said Silas. "And it's so ridiculous crooked, that we might run right on to the hant in going around some sharp bend, and never see him till we was clost to him. ”

“ I am always on the lookout for such boys, and when I find one I like to give him a helping hand."
"Then it's mighty strange that you never diskivered me," said Dan, to himself. "If there's anybody in the world who wants awful bad to be something better'n the ragged vagabone he is, I am that feller. Dog-gone such luck as I do have, any way! Why didn't he offer that soft job to me, instead of giving it to that Joe of our'n? I am older'n he is, and it would be the properest thing for me to have the first chance." ”

“ But Joe was resolved to paddle his own canoe, and more than that, he had threatened to call upon a powerful friend to make Dan behave himself, if he didn't see fit to do it of his own free will.
"I've got be mighty sly about what I do," thought Dan, resting his elbows on his knees and looking down at the ground, after kicking Bony out of his way. "Don't it beat you when you think of the luck that comes to some fellers, while others, who are just as good as they be, and who work just as hard, can't make things go right no way they can fix it? ”

“ It is worth something to live up there in the woods alone for eight months—from the first of September to the last of April—but your surroundings will be as pleasant as they can be made under the circumstances. In the first place, there is a tight log-house, with a carpet on the floor, and a lean-to behind it to serve as a wood-shed. You know that the fierce winter winds drive the snow into pretty deep drifts up there in the mountains, and if you are as provident as I think you are, you will keep that shed full. ”

“ An hour later, Joe stood by his father's wood-pile, taking a last look at his departing guest, who was hurrying down the dim wagon-road toward the valley below. All he had received in return for his services was a slight farewell bow.
"I have seen a good many sportsmen first and last," thought the young game-warden, as he shouldered his rifle and retraced his steps down the mountain, "but Mr. Brown beats me. If he ever spends another night in my house, he will take off his boots before he goes to bed, and pay me in advance for his meals and lodging." ”

“ Pap don't seem to be in no great hurry, and neither be I. I'm sick and tired of pulling that heavy flat over the river every time anybody takes a fool notion into his head to toot that horn. Some day I'll get mad and sink it so deep that it can't never be found again—I will so!"
"Now, Dan, what's the use of talking that way?" exclaimed Joe, impatiently. "You know well enough that as long as we run the ferry, we must hold ourselves in readiness to serve any one who may call upon us; and if you should destroy the flat, we would have to get another or give up the business." ”

“ They thankfully ate the bits of cracker and broiled squirrel that were tossed to them, and then went back to wait for Silas.
"That man has no more right to those valuable dogs than I have," said Bob. "They're worth a hundred dollars apiece, and no one ever gave a guide that much money in return for a single day's woodcock shooting. Who is he talking to, I wonder?"
"To no one," answered Tom. "He likes to talk to a sensible man, and he likes to hear a sensible man talk; consequently, he has a good deal to say to Silas Morgan. ”

“ Warren said to Uncle Hallet:
"Don't you think it would be a good plan for the boys to bring their outfit to a place of safety until the sheriff has had time to go up there and take care of those robbers? If they take it into their heads to burn the cabins, we don't want them to burn everything there is in them."
"Of course not," assented Mr. Hallet. "Tom, tell Hawley to hitch up and move you down at once—you and Joe. Mind, now, I want him to go with you."
"We don't need him," protested Tom. "We can take care of ourselves." ”

“ There was no one in the neighborhood who could dispute this story, but there were those who took note of the fact that at certain times the dogs disappeared as completely as though they had never existed, and that they were never seen when there were any strange sportsmen in the vicinity.
"The luck that comes to different folks in this world is just a trifle the beatenest thing that I ever heared tell on," continued Silas, leaning heavily upon the wood-rack and fanning his flushed face with his brimless straw hat. ”

“ Although they had no reason to believe that the robbers were anywhere near them, they did not forget to stop and listen now and then, and look along the path behind; and if a squirrel jumped from one tree to another, or the wind caused a sudden rustling among the neighboring bushes, they were prompt to drop their guns into the hollow of their arms and face in the direction from which the sound came.
"I declare I am as nervous as any old woman," said Bob, at length. "I act and feel as if I had been frightened half out of my wits, and yet I haven't seen a single thing." ”

“ On the contrary I thank you for it, and if I were sure that those parties in the gorge would let us alone this winter, I should be strongly in favor of letting them alone, too; for, as long as they stay there, we are safe from two of the worst game-law breakers in the country."
"But the mystery of that gulf is known to but few," said Tom.
[Pg 266]
"It will be known to more by this time next week," answered Joe. "Dan will tell it to every man and boy he meets, and in that way it will become noised abroad. But here's the difficulty: they won't let us alone. ”

“ I ain't been down to see old man Hallet yet, but I'm going directly, and I'm going to say to him that if he wants somebody to keep an eye on them birds of his'n, I'm the man he's looking for. He'll be glad to take me, of course, 'cause if there's any one in the whole country who knows all about a game-warden's business, its me. But if he can't take me—if he has picked out another man before I get a chance to speak to him—me and you will go halvers on them hundred and twenty, won't we? ”

“ Joe did his best to make a quick passage, as he always did, while the lazy Dan, who had the current in his favor, merely put his oar into the water and took it out again, without exerting himself in the least. His father's hopeful and encouraging words did not infuse a particle of energy into him. He had heard him talk that way too often.
[Pg 24]
"It ain't right that we should be so poor, while other folks, who never did a hand's turn in their lives, have got more than they know what to do with," continued Silas, as he dropped the steering-oar into the water. ”

“ Warren.
"I am going to keep a boat-house down to the Beach."
"Well now, Silas, that's the most sensible thing I have heard from you in a long time," said Mr. Warren. "I'll rent you a piece of ground big enough for a garden, and you can set yourself up in business in good shape, build a nice house, and have money left in the bank. If you manage the thing rightly, you and Dan ought to make a good living of it."
"Who said anything about Dan?" exclaimed Silas.
"I did. Of course, you can't ignore him, because you are wealthy. He wants a chance to earn an honest living, and he needs it, too. ”

“ But I want to get even with old man Warren for breaking up my business, don't I?"
"Of course you do; and the best way to do it is to make him give something toward your support. Joe ain't of age yet, and you can compel him to hand over every cent he earns."
"That's so!" exclaimed the ferryman, who now began to see what his friend Hobson was aiming at. "That Joe of our'n makes right smart by acting as guide and pack-horse to the strangers who come here to shoot and fish; but I never thought to ask him for any of it. He always gives it to his mother." ”

“ You will remember that Dan Morgan lost the letter within a few feet of the log on which he sat when he read it, and that when he and Silas went back to find it, they were frightened away by something that dodged into the bushes, before they could get a sight at it, and which they took to be a ghost. Well, it wasn't a ghost at all, but one of the thieves, who had been to the Beach after supplies. He found the letter and read it. Of course he was greatly alarmed, and so was his companion; for they couldn't help believing that some one had got wind of their hiding-place. ”

“ I told you this morning that if father and Dan didn't behave and let my birds alone, I would find means to make them, but I guess the ghost has taken that most unpleasant job off my hands, and I should really like to thank him for it."
"Then you think there is some one hidden in the gulf?" said Mrs. Morgan.
"I am sure of it; and the reason that father and Dan did not do any damage with their four charges of bird-shot was, because they sent them into a dummy. If they had held a little lower, and fired into the bushes, there might have been another story to tell." ”

“ Boys, you have done something to be proud of; and it's a lucky thing for Tom and Bob that they did not try to find out where the howls that frightened them came from. The robbers were at home [Pg 301] then, and if they had not succeeded in driving you away, they would have shot you down without ceremony."
"Then we had a perfect right to take that grip-sack, didn't we, Mr. Warren?" said Joe, whose mind was not quite easy on that score.
"I should say you had," replied Mr. Warren, with a laugh. "You have made yourselves wealthy, too, for you are fairly entitled to the reward." ”

“ Brown," said Brierly, with a grin. "I could tell the noise them guns make among a million, and I know the names of the man and boy who were behind them when they were fired. They were Silas and Dan Morgan—this chap's father and brother."
"Well, he's a pretty specimen for a game-warden, I must say!" exclaimed Mr. Brown. "No doubt he wants to keep all the fine shooting for his own family. I don't believe a word he has said to us, and I think we can go on with our sport without wasting any more time with him." ”

“ Besides, how is old man Warren going to tell whether it was me or some of them city sportsmen that shot 'em?"
"He's going to post his land, and put a game-warden up there in the woods to watch them partridges," observed Dan.
"What kind of a feller is that?" asked Silas. "Is it the same as a game-constable?"
"Just the same, only the old man will pay him out of his own pocket, instead of looking to the county to pay him. He's going to have that there game-warden shoot every dog and 'rest every man who comes on to the grounds with a gun in his hands, if he don't go off when he's told to." ”

“ Meanwhile Joe was strolling leisurely along the road in the direction from which he knew his mother would come, when her day's work was over.
"She will be glad to learn that she has done her last washing and scrubbing for other folks," the boy kept saying to himself. "When winter comes, and the roads are blocked with drifts, she can sit down in front of a warm fire and stay there, instead of wading through the deep snow to earn a dollar. I am in a position to take care of her now, and I could do it easy enough if father and Dan would only let me alone. ”

“ I tell you, pap, he follers the letter, and he'll never leave off pestering the man that's got it. I'm glad it's lost."
"So be I," said Silas, who had not thought of this before. "He bothered his pardner, who was the only one who knew that there was a fortune in the cave, and his pardner had to jump into the lake to get shet of him. It stands to reason, then, that he'll show himself to every one who finds out about that money. I 'most wish that that letter hadn't been put in my wood-pile, 'cause I can't rest easy while that hant is loafing about here." ”

“ What are you growling about?"
"'Cause they're 'ristocrats—that's what I'm growling about," answered Dan, looking savagely across the flat at his brother, while Silas [Pg 28] nodded a silent but hearty approval. "I am getting tired of seeing so much style every day, while I am so poor that I can't hardly raise money enough to buy powder and shot, and some fine day I'll bust up some of these hunting parties. I've got just as much right to see fun as they have." ”

“ If the reward is not paid over to you by the time spring opens, I will advance you enough to start you in business and build your house. Then I think you had better give Dan a chance."
"So do I," whispered Tom to his friend Bob. "Dan has lived by his wits long enough, and if Silas doesn't begin to take some interest in him, the sheriff will have a word or two to say about those setters. I can see plainly enough that he intends to hold that affair over Silas as a whip to make him behave himself." ”

“ You may see the day when you will be willing to tramp farther than this to have the pleasure of depositing a single trout in your creel."
"When things get as bad as that I won't go trout-fishing," said Bob, in reply. "I'll take it out on black bass in the lake. Besides, these trout are not at all high-toned. They don't know enough to take a fly, and there's no fun in fishing with any other bait."
"We're not looking for fun now; we're after our dinner," answered Tom, who, having found a pole to suit him, was kicking the bark off a decayed log in search of a grub to put on his hook. ”

“ Warren beckoned to Joe, who promptly stepped forward to join his squad, Dan keeping close to his heels.
"I wish I could think up some plan to get even with old man Warren for the way he's acting," thought Dan, who was indignant because the gentleman did not show him a little more respect. "I don't reckon he wants me along, but I don't care whether he does or not. I'm here to stay, no odds if there is five men instead of four in the party, and if we catch them bugglars I'll make 'em hand over my share. ”