about woodchucks. Thefellows in my books don't seem to have caught any. He's nice and fat; wemight try him when he's dead," said Tommy, who cared more for the skinto show than the best meal ever cooked.
The sound of a gun echoing through the wood gave Tommy a good idea,--
"Let's find the man and get him to shoot this chap; then we needn'twait, but skin him right away, and eat him too."
Off they went to the camp; and catching up their things, the two huntershurried away in the direction of the sound, feeling glad to know thatsome one was near them, for two or three hours of wood life made them alittle homesick.
They ran and scrambled, and listened and called; but not until they hadgone a long way up the mountain did they find the man, resting in an oldhut left by the lumbermen. The remains of his dinner were spread on thefloor, and he lay smoking, and reading a newspaper, while his dog dozedat his feet, close to a well-filled game-bag.
He looked surprised when two dirty, wet little boys suddenly appearedbefore him,--one grinning cheerfully, the other looking very dismal andscared as the dog growled and glared at them as if they were tworabbits.
"Hollo!" said the man.
"Hollo!" answered Tommy.
"Who are you?" asked the man.
"Hunters," said Tommy.
"Had good luck?" And the man laughed.
"First-rate. Got a raccoon in our trap, and we want you to come andshoot him," answered Tommy, proudly.
"Sure?" said the man, looking interested as well as amused.
"No; but I think so."
"What's he like?"
Tommy described him, and was much disappointed when the man lay downagain, saying, with another laugh,--
"It's a woodchuck; he's no good."
"But I want the skin."
"Then don't shoot him, let him die; that's better for the skin," saidthe man, who was tired and didn't want to stop for such poor game.
All this time Billy had been staring hard at the sandwiches and breadand cheese on the floor, and sniffing at them, as the dog sniffed athim.
"Want some grub?" asked the man, seeing the hungry look.
"I just do! We left our lunch, and I've only had two little trout andsome old berries since breakfast," answered Billy, with tears in hiseyes and a hand on his stomach.
"Eat away then; I'm done, and don't want the stuff." And the man took uphis paper as if glad to be let alone.
It was lucky that the dog had been fed, for in ten minutes nothing wasleft but the napkin; and the boys sat picking up the crumbs, muchrefreshed, but ready for more.
"Better be going home, my lads; it's pretty cold on the mountain aftersunset, and you are a long way from town," said the man, who had peepedat them over his paper now and then, and saw, in spite of the dirt andrips, that they were not farmer boys.
"We don't live in town; we are at Mullin's, in the valley. No hurry; weknow the way, and we want to have some sport first. You seem to havedone well," answered Tommy, looking enviously from the gun to thegame-bag, out of which hung a rabbit's head and a squirrel's tail.
"Pretty fair; but I want a shot at the bear. People tell me there is oneup here, and I'm after him; for he kills the sheep, and might hurt someof the young folks round here," said the man, loading his gun with avery sober air; for he wanted to get rid of the boys and send them home.
Billy looked alarmed; but Tommy's brown face beamed with joy as he saideagerly,--
"I hope you'll get him. I'd rather shoot a bear than any other animalbut a lion. We don't have those here, and bears are scarce. Mullin saidhe hadn't heard of one for a long time; so this must be a young one, forthey killed the big one two years ago."
That was true, and the man knew it. He did not really expect or want tomeet a bear, but thought the idea of one would send the little fellowshome at once. Finding one of them was unscared, he laughed, and saidwith a nod to Tommy,--
"If I had time I'd take _you_ along, and show you how to hunt; but thisfat friend of yours couldn't rough it with us, and we can't leave himalone; so go ahead your own way. Only I wouldn't climb any higher, foramong the rocks you are sure to get hurt or lost."
"Oh, I say, let's go! Such fun, Billy! I know you'll like it. A real gunand dog and hunter! Come on, and don't be a molly-coddle," cried Tommy,wild to go.
"I won't! I'm tired, and I'm going home; you can go after your old bearsif you want to. I don't think much of hunting anyway, and wish I hadn'tcome," growled Billy, very cross at being left out, yet with no desireto scramble any more.
"Can't stop. Good-by. Get along home, and some day I'll come and takeyou out with me, little Leatherstocking," said the man, striding offwith the dear gun and dog and bag, leaving Billy to wonder what he meantby that queer name, and Tommy to console himself with the promise madehim.
"Let's go and see how old Chucky gets on," he said good-naturedly, whenthe man vanished.
"Not till I'm rested. I can get a good nap on this pile of hay; thenwe'll go home before it's late," answered lazy Billy, settling himselfon the rough bed the lumbermen had used.
"I just wish I had a boy with some go in him; you ain't much better thana girl," sighed Tommy, walking off to a pine-tree where some squirrelsseemed to be having a party, they chattered and raced up and down atsuch a rate.
He tried his bow and shot all his arrows many times in vain, for thelively creatures gave him no chance. He had better luck with a brownbird who sat in a bush and was hit full in the breast with the sharpestarrow. The poor thing fluttered and fell, and its blood wet the greenleaves as it lay dying on the grass. Tommy was much pleased at first;but as he stood watching its bright eye grow dim and its pretty brownwings stop fluttering, he felt sorry that its happy little life was socruelly ended, and ashamed that his thoughtless fun had given so muchpain.
"I'll never shoot another bird except hawks after chickens, and I won'tbrag about this one. It was so tame, and trusted me, I was very mean tokill it."
As he thought this, Tommy smoothed the ruffled feathers of the deadthrush, and, making a little grave under the pine, buried it wrapped ingreen leaves, and left it there where its mate could sing over it, andno rude hands disturb its rest.
"I'll tell mamma and she will understand; but I _won't_ tell Billy. Heis such a greedy old chap he'll say I ought to have kept the poor birdto eat," thought Tommy, as he went back to the hut, and sat there,restringing his bow, till Billy woke up, much more amiable for hissleep.
They tried to find the woodchuck, but lost their way, and wandereddeeper into the great forest till they came to a rocky place and couldgo no farther. They climbed up and tumbled down, turned back and wentround, looked at the sun and knew it was late, chewed sassafras barkand checkerberry leaves for supper, and grew more and more worried andtired as hour after hour went by and they saw no end to woods and rocks.Once or twice they heard the hunter's gun far away, and called and triedto find him.
Tommy scolded Billy for not going with the man, who knew his way and wasprobably safe in the valley when the last faint shot came up to them.Billy cried, and reproached Tommy for proposing to run away; and bothfelt very homesick for their mothers and their good safe beds at FarmerMullin's.
The sun set, and found them in a dreary place full of rocks and blastedtrees half-way up the mountain. They were so tired they could hardlywalk, and longed to lie down anywhere to sleep; but, remembering thehunter's story of the bear, they were afraid to do it, till Tommysuggested climbing a tree, after making a fire at the foot of it toscare away the bear, lest he climb too and get them.
But, alas! the matches were left in their first camp; so they decided totake turns to sleep and watch, since it was plain that they must spendthe night there. Billy went up first, and creeping into a good notch ofthe bare tree tried to sleep, while brave Tommy, armed with a bigstick, marched to and fro below. Every few minutes a trembling voicewould call from above, "Is anything coming?" and an anxious voice wouldanswer from below, "Not yet. Hurry up and go to sleep! I want my turn."
At last Billy began to snore, and then Tommy felt so lonely he couldn'tbear it; so he climbed to a lower branch, and sat nodding and trying tokeep watch, till he too fell fast asleep, and the early moon saw thepoor boys roosting there like two little owls.
A loud cry, a scrambling overhead, and then a great shaking and howlingwaked Tommy so suddenly that he lost his wits for a moment and did notknow where he was.
"The bear! the bear! don't let him get me! Tommy, Tommy, come and makehim let go," cried Billy, filling the quiet night with dismal howls.
Tommy looked up, expecting to behold a large bear eating his unhappyfriend; but
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