William O. Stoddard

“ The ladies of the society poured right out into the kitchen to help aunt Judith, till she begged that no more should come at once than could stand around the stove.
It was well that there should be a sugar-bush, or some sort of excitement, to keep a part of that gathering out of doors. The house was full enough at all times; and before sunset the knots of merry people scattered around among the maple-trees and kettles discovered why Vosh Stebbins had persisted in carrying his gun out there every day since the work began. ”

“ Vosh Stebbins had to chuckle again and again, in spite of his resolute politeness; for the girls would scream a little, and laugh a great deal, when the sleigh sank suddenly on one side in a snowy hollow, or slid too rapidly after the oxen down a steeper slope than common. It was great fun; and, when they reached the house, Susie Hudson almost had to quarrel with aunt Judith to prevent being wrapped in a blanket, and shoved up in a big rocking-chair into the very face of the sitting-room fireplace. ”

“ Just half a minute later, Corry turned ruefully to his cousin, and asked him,—
"Port, what did you and I fire both barrels of our guns for?"
"Why, to hit the deer."
"At that distance? And with small shot too? If they'd reached him, they'd hardly have stung him. Let's go home."
Porter was ready enough; and it was not long before even Ponto gave up following the buck, and came panting along at the heels of his master. He looked a little crestfallen, as if he were nearly prepared to remark,—
"No use to drive deer for boys. I did my duty. No dog of my size and weight can do more." ”

“ The only heathen for whom much was accomplished was probably the bear himself.
Susie Hudson said to her brother at last, "I don't care, Port, it beats a city party all to pieces. There's ever so much more real enjoyment. I want to live in the country."
"Oh, well, I like it in winter. It's well enough. You've been out here in summer too."
"It's twice as good then."
"No, Susie, it can't be. It must be all hard work in summer. But think of the fun we've had!"
She did; and late in the evening Vosh Stebbins stepped up to her, and whispered,—
"May I see you home? The cutter's waiting at the door. ”

“ Susie was watching that commotion in the snow as she had never watched any thing before, and just then a fleecy head came out on this side of the high drift.
"Aunt Judith!—Aunt Sarah!—It's Vosh Stebbins!"
"They're all snowed under, and he's come through to tell us. Oh, dear!"
"Hurrah, boys!"
There was nothing at all doleful in the ringing shout Vosh sent towards the house the moment he got the snow out of his mouth.
"Have you got any snow at your house? There's more'n we want up our way. Let ye have loads of it, and not charge a cent."
"Come on, Vosh," said the deacon. ”

“ He might eat up the society.
"They generally come at night," said the deacon calmly, "but they are very apt to visit a sugar-bush. They're fond of sap."
"Where's Susie? Where's Pen?" exclaimed Vosh. Then he remembered that they and a whole party of village girls were up there near those very trees, and he ran as if his life depended on it.
"Steady, Vosh. Not so fast. I'm a-coming."
There was the deacon panting behind him, axe in hand; and behind him was the hired man with his axe, and away behind him were three or four sturdy farmers following with no better weapons than sled-stakes. ”

“ Vosh Stebbins had his axe out of the sleigh now, and seemed determined to show what he could do.
It looked like the easiest thing in the world. He and the deacon merely swung their axes up, and let them go down exactly in the right place; and the glittering edges went in, in, with a hollow thud, and at every other cut a great chip would spring away across the snow.
"It doesn't take either of them a great while to bring a tree down," said Corry. "You fetch along that other axe, and we'll try one. They've all got to come down: so it doesn't make any difference what we cut into." ”

“ It was about two hours after they left the farmhouse, and Port had just remarked,—
"Seems to me we've been going up hill all the time," when Corry suddenly exclaimed,—
"There it is! That's Mink Lake. It'll be down hill all the way going home. See it!"
"Lake!" said Port. "I don't see any lake. Oh, yes, I do! It's all ice and snow,—frozen clean over."
"And we haven't seen a single deer yet," said Susie sorrowfully.
"You can see some now, then," replied Vosh as he eagerly pointed forward. "See 'em, Susie? See 'em? Way down yonder on the ice."
"I see them!" shouted Pen. ”

“ Vosh overheard that, and he added with a broad grin,—
"Fact, Susie. Half these fellows'd rather face a wildcat, any day, than a girl like you, right from the city."
Susie blushed and laughed, but it was a sort of explanation to her of some things she had noticed during the evening.
"Port," said Corry, "let's go out and take a look at Sile Hathaway's deer. One's a buck, and one's a doe, and they're prime."
"Is he a hunter?"
"Guess he is. He'd rather hunt than earn a living, any day. But he's about the best rifle-shot there is anywhere around here." ”

“ The very mention of those little animals made the boys look at each other as if asking,—
"Did you ever hunt any thing as small as a rabbit?"
The snow in the woods was deep, but it was not drifted much; and the crust was hard, except close to the trunks of the trees, and under the heavier pines and hemlocks. Walking was easy, and they pushed right on through the forest.
"How'll we ever find our way back again?" asked Port.
"Follow our own tracks," said Corry. "Besides, father and Vosh'd never dream of getting lost around here. ”

“ That was kind of Vosh; and, if there was any thing Susie was fast learning to like, it was sleighing.
An old-fashioned, up-country donation-party cannot be altogether an evening affair. Some of the good people have far to come and go, and some of them have heavy loads to bring: so they generally begin to assemble before the middle of the afternoon.
Susie had seen the minister's house several times. It stood in the edge of the village, with an immense barn behind it; and it looked, for all the world, like another large barn, painted very white, with ever so many windows. ”

“ There he was now, however,—the great shaggy, long-legged house-dog,—coming up the road with a succession of short, sharp barks, as if he were protesting against being left out of such a picnic-party as that.
"Pen! he's coming right into the sleigh."
"No, he ain't. You'll see. He'll go after Corry. He's only smelling to see if the guns are here. He knows what they mean."
"Will he hunt?"
"I guess he will. When father or Corry or Vosh won't go, he goes off and hunts by himself, only he doesn't bring home any game." ”

“ Susie had hardly waited to say good-morning to Vosh; and there she was now, with her hood on, exclaiming,—
"Pen, Pen! why don't you go and get your things on? We mustn't keep Vosh waiting."
Pen was off like a flash, and Corry remarked to Vosh,—
"That'll be just great, if it'll work."
"Work! It's sure to work. It's as good as the Cobbleville 'ripper.' That's what they call it. All it wants is somebody strong in the arms to steer."
"I'd never trust myself," said aunt Judith with a deep sigh of anxiety.
"Tell you what, Corry," said Port, "we'll make Vosh haul us up hill. Won't have to walk." ”

“ Deacon Farnham was fond of chopping down trees; but he had not brought a big sleigh into the woods that morning, with two yoke of oxen, merely to have them stand still in the snow while he did some chopping. Such fires as he kept up at the farmhouse called for liberal supplies; and so Susie was to have an opportunity to see a load of logs put on.
She and Pen had to get out of the sleigh, and then she expressed her wonder if her uncle and Vosh would be strong enough to lift those huge "back-log" pieces into it:—
"They never can do it, Pen, not in all the world." ”

“ He seemed just now to be stirred to a sort of frenzy of delighted barking by what his nose told him, but at the end of it he sat down on the snow near the sleigh. No dog of good common sense would follow a boy with an axe away from the place where the guns were.
Meantime, Corry had picked out a maple-tree of medium size, and had cut a few chips from it. It was easy to see that he knew how to handle an axe, if he could not bury one as deeply in the wood of a tree as could his father or Vosh. ”

“ Porter Hudson had looked at it longingly more than once; and it was only the day after the grand deer-hunt on the crust that he said to Susie,—
"Now, don't you say a word about it to any one. Put your skates under your shawl, and walk on down to the village with me. I'll wrap up mine in a bundle."
"What if anybody should see us? Who cares? I don't."
"Why, Susie, don't you see? We'll be out with all the rest before long. We haven't been on our skates since we were at the rink last winter. I don't feel more'n half sure I could stand up on mine." ”

“ No city boy can spend a morning in the winter forest, with a gun and a dog, without learning something. It is an experience he will not forget so long as he lives.
Those had been great days for Vosh Stebbins. He felt that he had new duties on his hands ever since his new neighbors came, and was more and more inclined to hurry home from school in the afternoon, and get his chores done early. His mother remarked more than once that she had hardly one moment to say a word to him, and that he could split more wood in half an hour than any other boy in Benton Valley. ”

“ The young folks in two of the farther rooms were playing forfeits, and missed the music, but the promenaders all stood still for a few minutes and listened. It was just like the flowers. Nobody else had brought any thing quite so nice, and there was danger that Susie would be unpopular. As it was, she had no sooner risen from the piano than Squire King announced that supper was ready. Vosh had not known that it was so near, and was compelled to see Adonijah Bunce offer Susie his arm, and lead her into the refreshment-room. ”

“ The air-hole was an opening in the ice, not more than two feet across, but the ice was thin at the edges of it. A heavy man, or a busy one, might break through, and let himself into a cold bath; but when those two "slides" were slipped along on either side of the hole, any one could walk right out, and drop in a hook and line safely enough.
"There, Susie," said Pen, "now we can keep our feet dry while we catch our fish."
"Now, folks!" exclaimed the deacon. "Two at a time. We'll take turns."
"Your turn's good till you've hooked a fish," said Vosh to Porter, as he handed him a line. ”

“ Pen was thinking of the bear only; and Vosh had at once reloaded and shouldered his gun, and walked away. He was ready for another bear, but felt pretty sure that none would come. Port and Corry gave up going to the house for guns and coming back again, and all the young ladies seemed to think it must be near supper-time. They carried the news to Mrs. Stebbins, and it was all but provoking that she should take it very much as a matter of course. If any bear came to be killed, it was as natural as life that her boy should kill him. ”

“ Then all was ready for building a fire under the kettle, and beginning to make sugar.
"Won't the snow melt under it?" asked Susie. "Won't it put out the fire?"
"You'll see," said Vosh. "Of course the snow melts on top, and sinks, and we keep pitching on bark and stuff, and the ashes are there. The water runs off through the snow, and all the stuff gets packed hard, and'll bear as much fire as you can build on it. It makes a cake, and freezes nights, and those cakes'll be the last things around here that melt in spring." ”

“ Deacon Farnham drove on down towards the village, and all the tongues in the sleigh grew more and more silent. Aunt Judith had already told all there was to tell about the great flood when she was a girl, and when they had to live without flour or meal. The story sounded much more real now, for the first man they met said to them,—
"If the ice goes on packing up there at the dam, the mill and all will break away before midnight."
"Are they trying to do any thing to loosen the pack?" asked Vosh.
"They can't get at it to pick at it, and it's wuth any man's life to try. ”

“ There was a vivid picture of forest-life for one tremendous moment, there in the middle of the road; but within thirty yards were the four sportsmen, and their guns were at their shoulders.
"Keep your second barrels for a moment," said the deacon. "Be sure of your aim. Now!"
The four reports followed one another in swift succession, and a storm of slugs and buckshot was hurled into the struggling group in the road. The buck was down already, but he rolled clean over now. One wolf lay kicking on the snow beside him, while the other gave a bound and a yelp that told of a shot reaching him. ”

“ And sometimes it's a wolf, or a wildcat, or a panther, instead of a bear; and I know of a man getting caught in one once."
"Did he get out?" asked Pen.
"I won't tell you about it now; but when we get into the sitting-room this evening, I'll let you know just how one man made a bear of himself away up on Sawbuck Mountain."
That was something to look forward to; but not long after Corry and Pen had gone to school, Porter Hudson took his gun, and marched away to the woods, all alone by himself. The crust was still as firm as ever, and there had been no snow worth mentioning since the great storm. ”