CHAPTER VII
AT CAMP
Seemingly by common consent on the part of Tom's chums, it was left forhim to further question Sam Wilson and learn more about the man thecaretaker had driven over to the hunting camp. And Tom was not slowto follow up the matter. He had his own suspicions, but he wanted toverify them.
"You say you drove someone over to our camp yesterday?" Tom asked.
"Not yesterday, the day before," was the answer. "And it wasn't exactlyto your camp, but near it. Your camp is a private one, you know--thatis, it belongs to an association, and I understand you boys are to havefull run of all three places."
"Yes, the gentlemen who make up the organization very kindly gave usthat privilege," assented Tom.
"Then you're the only ones allowed to use the camps," went on Sam."I'll see to that, being the official keeper. I'm in charge the yeararound, and sometimes I am pretty hard put to keep people out thathave no business in. So, naturally, I wouldn't drive no stranger overto one of _my_ camps--I call 'em mine," he added with a smile, "but ofcourse I'm only the keeper."
"We understand," spoke Tom, and his tone was grave.
"Well, then you understand I wouldn't let anyone in at the camps unlessthey came introduced, same as you boys did."
"Well, where did you drive this man then--this man with----" beganGeorge, but Jack silenced him with a look, nodding as much as to saythat it was Tom's privilege to do the questioning.
"I drove this man over to Hounson's place," resumed the camp-keeper, ashe saw that all the baggage was piled in the pung. "This man Hounsonkeeps what he calls a hunters' camp, but shucks! It's nothing more thana sort of hotel in the woods. Some hunters do put up there, but none ofthe better sort.
"The gentlemen who own the three camps you're going to tried to buy upHounson's place, as they didn't like him and his crowd around here, buthe wouldn't sell. That's where I took this Jersey man who complained ofthe cold. Kept rubbing his ears, and one of 'em was chawed, just as ifsome wild critter had him down and chawed him. 'Course I didn't sayanything about it, as I thought maybe it might be a tender subject withhim. But I left him at Hounson's."
"Did he say what his name was?" asked Tom, but he only asked to gaintime to think over what he had heard, for he was sure he knew who theman with the "chawed" ear was.
"No, he didn't tell me his name, and I didn't ask him," Sam said. "Whoathere!" he called to his horses, for they showed an impatience to beoff.
"Some folks are sort of delicate about giving out their names," went onthe guide when the steeds were quieted, "and as I'm a sort of publiccharacter, being the stage driver, when there's one to drive, I didn'tfeel like going into details. So I just asked him where he wantedto go, and he told me. Outside of that, and a little talk about theweather, him remarking that he come from Jersey, that's all the talk wehad.
"But maybe you boys know him," he went on, as a thought came to him."He was from Jersey, and so are you. Do you happen to know who he is?"he asked.
"We couldn't say--for sure," spoke Tom, which was true enough.
"Well, maybe you'll get a chance to see him," went on Sam Wilson."Hounson's isn't far from your first camp, where we're going to headfor in a minute or so. You could go over there. You probably will haveto, anyhow, if you want your mail, for the only postoffice for theseparts is located there. And you'll probably see your man.
"To tell you the truth, I didn't take much of a notion to the feller.He was too sullen and glum-like to suit me. I like a man to take someinterest in life."
"Didn't this man do that?" asked Tom, as he stowed his gun away on thestraw-covered bottom of the pung.
"Not a cent's worth!" cried Sam, who was hearty and bluff enough tosuit anyone, and jolly in the bargain. "This chap sort of wrappedhimself up in one of my fur robes, like one of them blanket Indians Iread about out West, and he hardly spoke the whole trip. But you'llprobably see him over at Hounson's. Well, are you boys all ready?"
"I guess so," assented Bert, as he slung his camera over his shoulderby a strap. He hoped to get a chance at a snapshot.
"Well, then we'll start," went on Sam. "Pile in boys, and wrap them furrobes and blankets well around your legs. It's colder riding than it iswalking. So bundle up. It'll be colder, too, when we get out of town aways. We're in sort of a holler here, and that cuts off the wind."
"What about grub?" asked Jack. "Do we need to take anything with us? Isee a store over there," and he indicated one near the small depot.
"Don't need to buy a thing," said Sam. "Every one of the three camps iswell stocked. There's bacon, ham, eggs, besides lots of canned stuff,and I make a trip in to town twice a week. As for fresh meat, why,you'll probably shoot all that you want, I reckon," and he seemed totake that as a matter of course.
"Say, look here!" exclaimed Tom, determined not to sail under falsecolors, nor have his companions in the same boat. "We aren't regularhunters, you know. This is about the first time we ever came on a bighunting trip like this, and maybe----"
"Don't say another word!" exclaimed Sam, good-naturedly. "I understandjust how it is. I'm glad you owned up to it, though," he went on, witha twinkle in his blue eyes. "Some fellers would have tried to bluff itout, but I guess me and some of the other natives around here, wouldhave spotted you soon enough.
"But as long as you say you haven't had much experience, and as longas you ain't ashamed of it, I'll see that you get plenty of game. I'lltake you to the best places, and show you how to shoot."
"Of course we know how to use guns, and we've hunted a little," Tomsaid, not wanting it to appear that they were absolute novices. Andhe added: "We're pretty good shots in a rifle gallery, too. But it'sdifferent out in the woods."
"I know!" cried Sam. "I understand. You don't need to worry. You won'tstarve, if that's what's troubling you. Now I guess we'll get along,"and the horses stepped proudly out over the snowy road. Bells made amerry jingle as the party of boy hunters started for their first camp.
"Say, Tom," spoke Jack in a low voice to his chum, "do you think thatwas Skeel, the man with the 'chawed' ear, who was driven over toHounson's?"
"I'm almost sure of it," was the answer.
"Well, what in the world is his object in coming away up here and atthe same time we're due?"
"Give it up. We'll have to look for the answer later," was Tom's reply.
Out on the open road the horses increased their speed, and soon thepung, under the powerful pull of the animals, was sliding along at afast clip. Much sooner than the boys had expected, they saw, down ina little valley clearing, a comfortable looking log-cabin, and at thesight of it Sam Wilson called out:
"There she is, boys! That's your first camp!"
Tom Fairfield's Hunting Trip; or, Lost in the Wilderness Page 7