Hjalmar H. Boyesen

“ It was in honor of the guest that, in accordance with Norse custom, this early meal was served; and all the boys, carrying pillows and blankets, gathered on Albert’s and Ralph’s bed and feasted right royally. So it seemed to them, at least; for any break in the ordinary routine, be it ever so slight, is an event to the young. Then they had a pillow-fight, thawed at the stove the water in the pitchers (for it was frozen hard) , and arrayed themselves to descend and meet the family at the nine o’clock breakfast. ”

“ The moment I saw the track and caught the wild smell, I forgot all about the poachers, and started on the scent like a hound.”
The two boys stood for some minutes looking at the dead animal, not with savage exultation, but with a dull regret. The blood which was gushing from the wound in the breast froze in a solid lump the very moment it touched the snow, although the cold had greatly moderated since the morning.
“I suppose we’ll have to skin the fellow,” remarked Ralph, lugubriously; “it won’t do to leave that fine carcass for the wolves to celebrate Christmas with.” ”

“ He now saw without difficulty a place where the elk had broken through the snow crust, and he could also detect a certain aimless bewilderment in the tracks, owing, no doubt, to the shot and the animal’s perception of danger on two sides. Scarcely had he crawled twenty feet when he was startled by a noise of breaking branches, and before he had time to cock his gun, he saw an enormous bull-elk tearing through the underbrush, blowing two columns of steam from his nostrils, and steering straight toward them. ”

“ So you were perfectly within your rights; for your father hasn’t killed an elk on his land for ten years.”
“If that is the case, Mr. Sheriff,” said Ralph, “I must beg of you to release the poor fellow who chased us. I don’t wish any informer’s fee, nor have I any desire to get him into trouble.”
“I am sorry to say I can’t accommodate you,” Bjornerud replied. “This man is a notorious poacher and trespasser, whom my deputies have long been tracking in vain. Now I have him, I shall keep him. There’s no elk safe in Odalen so long as that rascal is at large.” ”

“ And out on the white radiance rose the great dark pile of masonry, called Solheim, with its tall chimneys and dormer windows and old-fashioned gables. Round about stood the great leafless maples and chestnut-trees, sparkling with frost and stretching their gaunt arms against the heavens. The two horses, when they swung up before the great front door, were so white with hoar-frost that they looked shaggy like goats, and no one could tell what was their original color. ”

“ Those fellows don’t mind putting a bullet into you, if you run. Now, I'd rather pay fifty dollars any day, than to shoot a man even in self-defense.”
“But they have killed elk, too. We heard them shoot twice. Suppose we play the same game on them that they intend to play on us. We can play informers, too. Then we’ll at least be quits.”
“Biceps, you are a brick! That’s a capital idea! Then let us start for the sheriff’s; and if we get there first, we’ll inform both on ourselves and on them. That’ll cancel the fine. Quick, now!”
No persuasions were needed to make Albert bestir himself. ”

“ You know that the sheriff, whose duty it is to be on the lookout for elk-poachers, would scarcely send out a posse when the cold is so intense. Elk, you know, are becoming very scarce, and the law protects them. No man is allowed to shoot more than one elk a year, and that one on his own property. Now, you and I will play deputy-sheriffs, and have those poachers securely in the lock-up before night. ”

“ I thought we were going to catch them.”
“So we were; but that was before we turned poachers ourselves. Now those fellows will turn the tables on us—take us to the sheriff and collect half the fine, which is fifty dollars, as informers.”
“Je-rusalem!” cried Biceps, “isn’t it a beautiful scrape we’ve put ourselves into?”
"Rather,” responded his friend, coolly.
“But why meekly allow ourselves to be captured? Why not defend ourselves?” ”

“ Aunt Elsbeth, after a previous experience with her nephew, had come to regard boys as rather a reprehensible kind of animal, who differed in many of their ways from girls, and altogether to the boys’ disadvantage. ”

“ Moyer, of Solheim,” said the boy, not without some pride in the announcement.
“What—you rascal, you! Are you trying to play pranks on an old man?” cried the officer of the law, grasping Ralph cordially by the hand. “You’ve grown to be quite a man, since I saw you last. Pardon me for not recognizing the son of an old neighbor.”
“Allow me to introduce to you my friend, Mr. Biceps—I mean, Mr. Albert Grimlund.”
“Happy to make your acquaintance, Mr. Biceps Albert; and now you both must come and eat the Christmas porridge with us. I’ll send a messenger to Mr. ”

“ So we have; and I never once thought of it,” cried the valiant hunter. “I am afraid we are off my father’s preserves, too. It is well the deputy-sheriffs are not abroad, or we might find ourselves decorated with iron bracelets before night.” ”