CHAPTER XIX
SPARRER SAVES THE SKIN
Without hesitancy Pat followed the Indian. It was a queer sight, theIndian leading with his hands bound behind him, and Pat with his rifleacross the hollow of one arm stalking grimly behind him. They were soonlost to view and the others settled down to wait and speculate. It wasalmost three-quarters of an hour later that they reappeared, and it wasseen at once that Pat carried a black object swinging from one hand. Asby one impulse the three boys rushed forward to meet them. In theirhaste they quite forgot that they were on snow-shoes, with the resultthat Sparrer took an inglorious header, in the course of which he upsetWalter and the latter, landing on the tail of one of Hal's shoes, senthim sprawling. Alec roared and even Big Pierre permitted himself togrin.
By the time all three had regained their feet Pat and the Indian hadcome up.
"Here you are, son! See if you can take better care of him this time,"said Pat as he flung the fox at Sparrer's feet.
With a cry of joy Sparrer seized the fox and held him up for theadmiring gaze of his comrades. The animal had not been skinned, forwhich Pat and Alec were sincerely thankful. This important matter andthe stretching of the skin they preferred to attend to themselves,especially after seeing the careless way in which some of the furs foundin the cabin had been handled.
"Where did you find him?" asked Hal as he ran his fingers through theluxuriant fur.
"In a hollow tree, just as Pierre guessed," replied Pat. "The Injunwouldn't answer any questions, but it is clear enough that he didn'thave time to skin the beast last night, and hid it there on his way tocamp, intending to get it the first chance he had when Pierre wasn'taround. He took good care of it, and it is in perfect condition. Thatwas some shot of yours, son."
Sparrer flushed with pleasure. "'Twa'n't nothin'," he mumbled. "Anybodycould have done it."
By this time they had rejoined Alec and Pierre. The latter's eyesglittered as he ran them appraisingly over the beautiful black form ofthe fox, then darted a malevolent glance in the direction of hispartner.
"What will that skin bring, Alec?" asked Pat.
The trapper was studying the fox with the critical stare of the expert."I dinna ken, Pat," he replied slowly. "'Tis a big beastie, and by allodds the finest fur I ever put my eyes on. It will bring $1,500 anyway,and maybe $2,000. I never thought to lay my hands on the likes of it."He turned and looked at Sparrer with an expression almost of awe. "Tellme, laddie, what is the charm ye carry?" said he.
Sparrer laughed. "Oi didn't even have a rabbit's foot," he confessed."Sure, an' it was just the luck av the Oirish."
"Right, me son! Hurray for the Irish!" cried Pat. Then with an abruptchange he once more became the leader. "Alec, go through the clothes ofour misguided friends and see that they have no cartridges in theirpockets." This Alec did, despite the protests of Big Pierre. When he wassure that he had secured all of these, thus rendering the guns useless,he set both prisoners free, at Pat's order, and they were commanded topack up their stuff and get ready to hit the trail. This they didsullenly enough, for they felt that they were under guard, as indeedthey were. Their packs were soon ready, for besides their blankets, afew cooking utensils and grub, they had little enough. The latterincluded part of the ill-gotten deer meat.
When they were about ready to start Big Pierre made one last plea forcartridges, at least for himself. But Pat was obdurate and told themthat they were lucky to be allowed to take their guns. When all wasready for the trail their knives were returned to them, and theFrenchman's axe was given him. The Indian's axe Pat retained.
"Ye may loike ut as a bit av a souvenir av the lump on yer head," hemurmured in an aside to Sparrer, though his real reason was that hefeared what might happen should the two outlaws be equally armed when itcame to the quarrel which he felt sure was brewing between them.
They were given a final warning to get wholly out of the country andnever show their faces there again on pain of having the charges ofpoaching and theft brought against them. The big Frenchman wasmanifestly glad enough to get off so lightly, but there was an uglygleam in the black eyes of his companion. Sparrer had laid the fox onthe snow and drawn a few steps away from it the better to watchproceedings. As the outlaws started to hit the trail to the north, theredskin in the lead, the latter suddenly sprang toward the fox, at thesame instant snatching his knife from his belt.
Sudden as was his move Sparrer was too quick for him. He thrust forwarda foot that tripped the Indian and sent him sprawling, Sparrer alsobeing upset. Before the Indian could regain his feet Big Pierre was onhim, sending his big fist crashing full into the swarthy face. Thenwrenching the knife from his grasp Pierre flung it far into the brushand once more raised his fist. By this time Pat and Alec had joined themelee and were dragging the infuriated Frenchman from his victim. Allthe time Pierre poured out a stream of invective which only the Indianand Alec could understand. The latter explained later that he wascharging his companion with trying to put them both in prison after theyhad been fortunate enough to win their freedom, believing, and rightly,that if the Indian had succeeded in slashing the skin as he had intendedthey would have been held and turned over to the proper authorities.
"Dat puts me even wid him!" shrilled Sparrer triumphantly as he mountedguard over the fox, and the Indian with a bruised and battered faceregained his feet and once more hit the trail, Big Pierre at his heelsheaping abuse upon him. As they disappeared in the brush Pat dropped thebutt of his rifle to the snow.
"That's the end of that precious pair, so far as we are concerned," saidhe with a sigh of relief. "Pierre is wise enough to know that this isn'ta healthy country for them, and they won't bother us any more. He's gotthe Indian where the hair is short now, for the latter hasn't even aknife, and I guess it's just as well. Now we'll finish our job here andget back to camp. You fellows rustle up some birch bark and dry wood andheap it up inside the cabin."
"What for?" demanded Hal, looking blank.
"To fumigate after the prisence av a skunk," retorted Pat whimsically.
By means of the belt axes of the boys, supplemented by the Indian's axein the hands of Alec, a pile of inflammable stuff was soon collected andheaped up inside the cabin. Then Pat touched a match to the pile andsoon the whole interior was a roaring furnace. The bark roof quicklyburned through and fell with a great hissing of the snow which itcarried down with it, sending the sparks and embers skyward in a goldencloud. Satisfied that the destruction of the camp would be sufficient torender it uninhabitable Pat ordered all hands to make ready for thereturn to their own camp and they were soon on the trail. The fire wasleft to burn itself out, as no harm could come from it, owing to thesnow-covered surroundings.
Hal still puzzled over the burning of the cabin. "I should think youwould have wanted to keep it, Pat," he ventured at length. "It mighthave come in handy some time."
"'Twas too handy altogether, as it was," retorted Pat. "When you've duga fox out fill up his den." And with this cryptic reply Hal was forcedto be content.
Sparrer, having no rifle, insisted on carrying the fox, an honor grantedhim with one accord. Very different was their entrance into Smugglers'Hollow from their departure in the small hours of that same day, andthere was much jesting and hilarity, for their buoyant spirits hadrebounded wonderfully now that the load of anxiety and dread had beenlifted. Pat and Alec each carried a bundle of furs sufficient inthemselves to raise their spirits to a high plane, for these, added tothose they already had, assured the financial success of theirpartnership.
As they came in sight of their cabin Upton called attention to a thinvapor of smoke rising from the chimney.
"Somebody there, as sure as I'm alive and kicking," exclaimed Pat. "NowI wonder who is paying us a visit this time."
As if in answer the door opened and a big burly form stepped forth.
"Jim! Oh, you Jim!" yelled Upton delightedly.
The big guide and lumber boss, for it was he, turned in their direction,his weather-t
anned face lighting with real pleasure. Then as they drewnearer a comical look of wonder and perplexity crossed it. He steppedback to the door and apparently spoke to some one inside, for a secondlater another strapping big man stepped out.
"Hello!" exclaimed Pat. "That's Bill Marshman, the game warden anddeputy sheriff, who was looking for Alec last fall, and scared away thebear the day we left Plympton to take care of camp. It's lucky for thosetwo chaps back there," nodding in the direction from which they hadcome, "that Bill didn't get here a day sooner. They wouldn't have gotoff so easy."
By this time the party had approached within easy talking distance ofthe men at the cabin, who were staring at them in dumb amazement. Patchuckled.
"Hello, Jim! Hello, Bill!" he called. "Mighty glad to see you. Sorryyou didn't get here sooner so as to join our little expedition."
"Say," drawled the warden, "is this a war party returning from a raid?"
"You've guessed it," declared Pat, dropping his load and shaking handswarmly with the two men. "In the absence av the constitooted authority"(he poked his fist into the ribs of the warden by way of emphasizing thepoint) "we have been upholding the majesty av the law and the rights avfree-born American citizens, and yez have just missed putting thebracelets on as ugly a pair av villains as iver stole the furs av honestmen."
A light broke over the sheriffs face. "Big Pierre and his Injunpartner!" he exclaimed. "I was tipped off that they were somewhere abouthere, and that's what brought me in. Where are they now?"
"Hitting the trail for parts unknown," replied Pat. "We'll tell youabout it later. Meanwhile here are some friends of mine you ought toknow and keep an eye on, Bill. They'll bear watching."
He then introduced the three boys. Sparrer still clung to his prize,and as he came forward to shake hands Jim and the warden sensed for thefirst time what it was he was carrying.
"By gum!" exclaimed Jim. "I believe that's the very fellow I was tellingyou about, Bill. Saw him the last time I was over here. Did you traphim, Pat, or is he part of the spoils of war?"
"Wrong both ways, Jim," replied Pat. "He was the cause of this littleexpedition. Come on in and while we are rustling up some grub we'll tellyou the yarn."
Jim and the warden listened with growing interest and appreciation whilePat unfolded the story. When it ended the warden gravely arose andwalked over to Sparrer. "Shake hands over again, son," said he, to theboy's great confusion. "If I had had to sit still and watch a fortunetrot around the way you did I sure would have been so plumb shaky thatI'd have missed the shot when the time came. What are you going to dowith him now that you've got him?"
Thus did the warden bring to a head a question that had been troublingthe boy ever since the fox was recovered. "He ain't mine," he gulped."Oi lost him, and wouldn't never seen him again if it hadn't been ferdem." He nodded in the direction of Pat and Alec. "He's theirs, an' deyain't no use talkin' about it." Sparrer set his lips firmly.
In an instant Pat and Alec were on their feet, protesting that such talkwas foolishness, and that the prize belonged to Sparrer and no one else.But the boy shook his head stubbornly.
"Seems to me," drawled the warden when he could make himself heard,"that this here is a case for a disinterested party to decide. Now ifyou was to ask me I should say that an even split, fifty-fifty, is thefair thing. This here young tenderfoot comes up here with horseshoes orrabbit's-feet or some other luck charms hung all over him and without nohelp from any one bags a fortune which he finds running around loose.Right up to that point it's hisn and nobody else ain't got no claim onit. Then he loses it and ain't got no more chance of gettin' it backhimself than a bull moose has of growing a long tail. Up steps Pat andAlec and friendly like does for him what he can't do for himself, an'gets the prize back. Now it seems to me that half ought to go to thishere young feller fer gettin' it in the first place, and half to theother two fer gettin' it back after it was lost. What do you say, Jim?"
"The only fair thing," declared Jim judicially. "There's enough in it togive 'em all a comf'table bit."
A warm discussion followed in which Hal and Upton sided with the wardenand Jim and it ended only when Sparrer at last agreed to a three-waysplit. From this stand no amount of argument could move him. He wouldtake a third share if Pat and Alec would each take a third. Otherwise hewouldn't take any. And so it was finally agreed.
The skinning and stretching of the hide was left to Alec, who was a pastmaster in the art. While he was thus engaged the warden mysteriouslybeckoned Pat to one side.
"Pat, whose are these?" he asked gravely, drawing a bunch of traps fromunder a bunk.
Pat reached for them and examined them curiously. "Mine. That is, mineand Alec's; those are our marks," he replied, pointing to certain filemarks on them. "Where did you get them?" he added wonderingly.
"Where I got this fellow," replied the warden, reaching under the bunkand drawing out the body of a beaver. "I know you better than to thinkyou had a hand in this, Pat," he continued, "but"--he hesitated and thencontinued hurriedly, "I thought perhaps your partner has been doin' alittle poachin' unbeknown to you. You know he didn't have the best nameever was when he first came into these parts."
A great light broke over Pat's face. "Alec don't know anything moreabout this than I do," he declared. "There isn't a straighter man in thewoods than Alec is now, and you just want to make up your mind to thatright now, Bill. That's the work of that thievin' Injun. You mind what Itold you about Sparrer's findin' those traps at the beaver-pond? Well,it's as plain as the nose on your face. That Injun lifted some of ourtraps and set them there. He knew that if you came snoopin' round andfound 'em the marks on 'em would point to us. Those skunks didn't haveany traps, anyway. Thinkin' about that fox I'd clean forgotten about thebeaver. Poor little chap." Pat stroked the body of the beaver.
Alec was now called in, and his look of blank astonishment when he sawthe traps and the dead animal was all that was needed to convince thewarden that Pat was right in his surmise.
That evening Jim explained his visit by stating that he had all alongplanned to get over to the Hollow before the boys left. When the wardendropped into his camp early that morning and stated his intention ofgoing on to the Hollow Jim decided that he would accompany him.
"How are you boys going back?" he asked.
"The same way we came in, I suppose," replied Upton.
"What's the matter with putting in a day with me and seeing how alogging camp is run? Then I'll send you out to the railroad on a lumberwagon," suggested the big lumber boss.
The idea appealed to the boys, and it was finally agreed that they wouldaccompany him to his camp the next day. It would give them a newexperience for which they were eager, and at the same time eliminate thelong hike back to Lower Chain. So, not without sincere regret, it mustbe admitted, they got their duffle together preparatory to an earlystart the next morning for the fifteen mile hike to Jim's headquarters.They turned in early, for now that the excitement was over they felt thereaction from the long strain they had been under, and the loss of sleepthe night before. Jim and the warden bunked on the floor and the cabinin Smugglers' Hollow was soon wrapped in silence save for the gentlebreathing of the sleepers. So ended a red letter day for at least threeof the occupants.
CHAPTER XX
THE BLACK FOX IS SOLD
The day in the lumber camp was all too short for all of the boys, butespecially for Sparrer, to whom the cutting of the great trees and thehauling of the logs and piling of them on the rollways on the banks ofthe river ready for breaking out on the high water of the spring was ofabsorbing interest. Hal and Upton were familiar with logging operations,having visited logging camps many times during their summers in thewoods. The only novelty to them lay in the changed setting of the scenesproduced by the snow.
Sparrer was of just the type to win immediate favor with the rough,big-hearted lumber-jacks, and they made him feel at home at once. Theyvied with one another in showing him things of interest, and hiscomments, co
lored with the slang of the city streets, afforded them noend of amusement. So it was with regret on all sides that at break ofthe following day the boys put their duffle on the big sled used forhauling in supplies and followed it themselves. Pat went with them tosee them off at the train.
With the last glimpse of the lumber camp as the sled entered the foresta silence broken only by the tinkle of the bell on one of the horses,the muffled sound of their feet and the slithering slide of the broadrunners over the snow, fell on the little group. None felt in the moodfor talking save the driver, and he soon subsided, failing to elicitmore than monosyllabic responses. Pat was busy with thoughts of what hisshare from the sale of the black fox skin would mean to him in thefurtherance of his ambitions for an education. But on his three gueststhe unfathomable mystery of the wilderness had once more fallen andwrapped them in its spell. It was the deeper for the knowledge that theywere so soon to break it with no certainty of when they might againsurrender their spirits to it. They were going back to another world.
Oddly enough it was Sparrer who finally voiced the feeling of which bothUpton and Hal were conscious, yet found no words to express.
"It makes a feller feel little," said he, "like he ain't nothin' at all,and yet dat inside av him is somethin' bigger'n this." He swung one handaround in an all inclusive sweep. "An' it makes him feel clean inside,just like it is outside, an' like he'd got to do big things an' littlemean things hadn't got no place. An'--an'"--Sparrer was groping forwords to make his meaning clear--"it gives a feller a funny feelin' dathe ain't much and yet dat some way he's bigger'n de mount'ns, an' if deyis a million years old like people say, he's goin' ter last a lotlonger. Bein' out here makes me feel just like Oi do when Oi go into dechurch an' de sun comes trew dem colored winders and de organ plays an'lifts a feller right up 'til he feels like he had wings an' could fly ifhe only knew how ter use 'em."
Sparrer stopped abruptly and gazed with unseeing eyes off through theforest aisles. Pat looked over at the youngster with the light ofunderstanding in his eyes.
"Right, son," said he. "I know the feeling. This is the great cathedralthat God has built for Himself and the littleness we feel is because ofHis own presence, and the sense of being greater than all this, themountains, the lakes and the rivers, is, I reckon, because He makes usfeel that if He made all these things to last through millions of yearsHe isn't going to let His greatest work, man, perish in the little bitof time that makes a man's lifetime."
The bell on the horse tinkled, the runners slithered over the snow andno further word was spoken until the driver cried, "Yonder's theclearin'. I reckon you fellers hev got just about time enough to lookthe town over before the train comes."
An hour later farewells were said, and the three boys stood on the rearplatform of the Pullman waving to Pat as the train pulled out. For sometime after the straight form of the brawny young trapper and the dingydepot of the little village had faded from view the boys stood watchingthe panorama of frozen wilderness. Then, reluctantly it must beconfessed, they turned to the warmth and luxury of the car.
"Say, hasn't it been great?" exclaimed Hal as he dropped into his seat.
"Great doesn't express it at all," declared Upton. "It beats even thehunt for Lost Trail."
As for Sparrer, he said nothing at all, but glued his face to the windowthat he might drink in as long as he could the beauty of this land ofenchantment, where the test of a man was his ability to contendsuccessfully with the forces of nature and to live within the law whenbeyond the watchful eyes of the law; this land where a man was gauged byhis moral strength no less than by his physical strength. These twoweeks in the heart of the wilderness had wrought a change in the lad'swhole attitude toward life. His inherent love of battle for battle'ssake had been given a new turn. His old ambitions to be a soldier or aprize-fighter were forgotten in a new ambition--to be a woodsman; to pithis strength and courage and skill against the elemental forces ofNature instead of against his fellows. In short, Sparrer had resolvedthat some day he would shake the dust of the city from his feet forever.He would become a guide and lumber boss like Big Jim. And so he watchedthe flying landscape and dreamed dreams, and they were wholesome.
It had been agreed that Pat and Alec should attend to the marketing ofthe fox skin, Sparrer's share to be forwarded to him when the sale wasmade. The day after they reached New York the operator at Upper Chainreceived a message over which he puzzled long. It was addressed to PatMalone, and was as follows:
"Wire best price you can get for skin, but do not sell until you hearfrom me. Hal."
It was two weeks before Pat's reply was received. Hal was back atschool, but Mr. Harrison opened the message and smiled as he read it. Itwas brief and to the point:
"Two thousand dollars. What's up? Pat."
Mr. Harrison rang for his private secretary. "Take this message and getit off at once," he said crisply. "Pat Malone, Upper Chain: Will givetwenty-four hundred dollars for skin. Ship at once by express. My checkby next mail."
Then he dictated a letter to Hal telling him of the success of theirconspiracy, for the two had hatched the plan together. Hal's descriptionof the events in Smugglers' Hollow had so delighted Mr. Harrison that hehad at once exclaimed: "We've got to have that skin, my boy. As a pieceof fur it is worth as much to me as it is to any one else. Forsentimental reasons it is worth more to me than it is to any one else. Idon't believe in mixing sentiment with business, my boy, but there areexceptions to all rules. This is one. Besides, I owe that young Irishmanup there in the woods more than money can repay for what he has done inhelping to make you what you are to-day. You have him wire the bestprice he can get, and I'll go it one better. And by the way, you mightsuggest to that youngster who shot the beast that when he gets his shareof the money I'll be glad to invest it for him where it will earn morethan it will in a bank."
And this is how it happened that Pat, Alec and Sparrer with eighthundred dollars apiece experienced for the first time that sense ofindependence, and power which comes with the possession of wealth, fornot even Mr. Harrison with his millions felt richer than they. To Alecit meant the realization of a cherished dream which included theownership of a certain tiny farm. To Pat it meant the education he hadset his heart upon. While to Sparrer it meant a better home, a liftingof some of the load from his mother's shoulders, and a furtherstimulating of an already awakened ambition to gain for himself a sharein the higher and better things of life.
Of course when the story was told to the Blue Tortoise Patrol Sparrerwas more popular than ever. He was little short of a hero in the eyes ofhis companions, the more so because Upton was at pains to point out thatthe boy's good fortune was really due to his adherence to the Scoutprinciples which he had embraced, and to the moral victory which he hadgained through loyalty to the Scout oath in the face of the hardest kindof temptation--the temptation when there is none to see either victoryor defeat.
A few weeks later the damage suit growing out of the automobile accidentin Bronx Park was tried and the Blue Tortoises were called as witnesses.Once more Sparrer distinguished himself, unhesitatingly picking out froma group of men the one whose face he had seen for just a fleeting momentin the big car racing away from the scene of the accident. So positivewas his identification that the defense, which was based on the claimthat the car had been taken without the owner's knowledge, crumbled thenand there, for the man who Sparrer identified was none other than theowner himself.
As for Upton, he returned to his studies with renewed vim anddetermination which in due time brought its reward--the scholarship onwhich he had set his heart.
"On my honor I will do my best-- To do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout law; To help other people at all times; To keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight."
Well might the men of to-day as well as the men of to-morrow subscribeto this oath of the Boy Scouts of America, whether their lot in life becast in the turmoil of the great city or
the loneliness of a trapper'scamp.
The Stories in this Series are:
THE BOY SCOUTS OF WOODCRAFT CAMP THE BOY SCOUTS ON SWIFT RIVER THE BOY SCOUTS ON LOST TRAIL THE BOY SCOUTS IN A TRAPPER'S CAMP
The Boy Scouts in A Trapper's Camp Page 20