CHAPTER XI.
TRAPPING QUAILS.
"Now, I call that a pretty good job for a first attempt," said Don;"and considering the work we have had to do, it hasn't taken us agreat while either. I wish I dare crawl in there and set it off, justto be sure that it will work all right."
"But that wouldn't be a very bright proceeding," replied Bert. "Wecould never get you out. You would be as securely confined as youwere when you were tied up in the potato-cellar."
Don was well aware of that fact. The roof was made of logs as heavyas they could manage with their united strength, and there were otherlogs placed upon it in such a position that when the roof fell, theirweight would assist in holding it down. All these precautions werenecessary, for a bear can exert tremendous strength if he once makesup his mind to do it; and David had repeatedly declared that if theyshould chance to capture an animal as large as the one that had beenkilled on that very island years before, the pen would not prove halfstrong enough to hold him. But it was quite strong enough to hold Donif he got into it, and the only way his companions could havereleased him would have been by cutting the roof in pieces with theiraxes.
The work was all done now, and the boys were ready to start for home.While Bert and David were gathering up the tools and stowing themaway in the canoe, Don scattered a few ears of corn around, so thatthe bear would be sure to find them the next time he visited theisland, and threw a dozen or so more into the trap close about thetrigger. The rest of the corn he hung up out of reach on a saplingwhich he knew was too small for the bear to climb.
Assisted by the current the canoe made good time down the bayou. Bertand David lay back in the stern-sheets and said they were tired,while Don, who was seated at the oars, declared that his day's workhad relieved his stiff joints, and that he began to feel like himselfagain. He was fresh enough to assist in building another trap withoutan hour's rest; and in order to work off a little of his surplusenergy, he thought when he reached home he would take a turn throughthe fields in company with his pointer, and see if he could bagquails enough for his next morning's breakfast. Bert said he would gowith him, for he wanted to see the pointer work.
In about three quarters of an hour the canoe entered the lake anddrew up to the bank in front of Godfrey's cabin. David sprang out,and after placing his gun upon the bench in front of the door, wentbehind the building to unchain the pointer. He was gone a longtime--so long that Don and Bert, who were sitting in the canoewaiting for him, began to grow impatient--and when he came back hedid not bring the pointer with him. He brought instead a chain and acollar. His face told the brothers that he had made a most unwelcomediscovery.
"Where's the dog?" asked Bert.
"I don't know," answered David, looking up and down the road. "Hemust have slipped the collar over his head and gone off; but I neverknew him to do it before."
"Well, you needn't look so sober about it," said Don. "He isn't faraway. I'll warrant I can bring him back."
Don set up a whistle that could have been heard for half a mile.Indeed it was heard and recognised at a greater distance than that.An answering yelp came from the direction of his father's house,but it was not given by the dog Don wanted to see just then. It wasuttered by one of the hounds which had been shut up in the barn whenDon went away that morning, and afterward released by the hostler.The others answered in chorus, and half a dozen fleet animals wereseen coming down the road at the top of their speed. But the pointerwas not with them.
"It's likely we shall find him at the house," said Bert, who wantedto say something encouraging for David's benefit.
"I don't doubt it," returned Don. "If he's there, Dave, we'll take ashort hunt with him and bring him down in the morning."
"If you don't care I'll go up with you," said David, "It would be agreat relief to me to know that he is safe."
"All right. Jump aboard."
David got into the canoe again and Don pulled up the lake toward thewharf. When they reached it the boat was made fast to the tree again,and the three boys started for the house. Don at once began makinginquiries concerning his pointer, but no one had seen him, and hisloud and continued whistling brought only the hounds, which snuffedat the guns and yelped and jumped about as if trying to make theirmaster understand that they were there, and ready for anything hemight want them to do.
"Never mind," said Don, who did not seem to feel half as bad as Daviddid; "dogs of his breed never stray far away, and he'll be at yourhouse or ours before morning, you may depend upon it. Good-by now,and don't forget to be on hand at an early hour. We must set to workupon those traps without any more delay."
David reluctantly turned his face toward home, and Don and Bertwent into the house. "I didn't tell him just what I think about thematter, for he feels badly enough already," said Don, when he and hisbrother were in their room, dressing for supper. "There's an awfulthief about here, and it wouldn't surprise me at all to know that thepointer has gone where our canoe went."
"Do you know that that thought has been in my mind all the while?"returned Bert. "Who is the thief?"
"I give it up. If he lives about here he's foolish to steal my dog,for he never can use him in hunting. There isn't a man or boy in thesettlement but would recognise him the moment he saw him."
"Perhaps he was stolen in the hope that a reward would be offered forhis return," suggested Bert.
"Well, there's something in that. But after all," added Don, a fewminutes later, "there isn't so much in it, for how could the thiefreturn the dog without making himself known? Still I hope it isso--that is, if the dog was stolen--for rather than lose him, I'llgive ten dollars to anybody who will bring him back to me, and ask noquestions. If I have to do that it will ruin me, for it will take mylast cent."
The ringing of the supper bell put a stop to their conversation forthe time being, but it was resumed as soon as the family weregathered about the table. Various explanations were offered for thepointer's absence, and when that matter had been talked over, theevents of the day were brought up for discussion. Bert acted asspokesman, and when he told how the hounds had driven the bear fromhis den and forced him to swim the bayou, Don was surprised to seethat his father smiled as if he did not quite believe it. "It's thetruth, every word of it," said Don, almost indignantly.
"O, I don't doubt that you found something on the island and drove itoff," replied the General, "but I don't think it was a bear."
"What was it?" asked Don.
"It was something you will not be likely to catch in your trap. Itwas Godfrey Evans."
Don dropped his knife and fork, and settled back in his chair. "Wesaw tracks in the mud that did not look to me like bear tracks,that's a fact," said he. "If that was Godfrey, he's the one who stoleour canoe."
"Then we have had all our trouble for nothing," said Bert.
"Perhaps not," replied his father. "The island has been muchfrequented by bears ever since I can remember, and it may be thatyour labor will be rewarded in a day or two. It might be well for youto watch your trap at any rate. If you should happen to catch a youngbear, that you could bring home alive, Silas Jones would give youtwenty dollars for it. That would be a big addition to David's littlecapital, for of course you wouldn't want any of the money."
"Of course not. All we want is the fun of catching the bear."
Don and Bert were up the next morning before the sun, as they alwayswere, and as soon as they were dressed, they went out to the shop andfound David there busy with his traps. He knew where the key waskept, under the door-step, and at the first peep of day he had lethimself in and gone to work. Of course the first questions that wereasked and answered were in regard to the missing pointer, but no onehad seen or heard anything of him. David seemed to take the loss verymuch to heart. The animal was a valuable one, and he felt that he wasin some degree responsible for his safe-keeping.
Three pairs of willing hands made light work, and by two o'clock inthe afternoon a dozen traps were completed and ready for setting
. Theboys then stopped long enough to take a hasty lunch, which they atein the shop, in order to save time, and after that one of the muleswas hitched to a wagon and brought before the door. The traps, abasket containing the "figure fours," with which they were to beset, a bag of corn for bait, an axe, with which to clear away theunderbrush, and a spade to dig the trenches, having been packed awayin the vehicle, the boys got in and drove off. They directed theircourse along the fence, which ran around the plantation, and whereverthey found a clump of bushes or a little thicket of briers and cane,there they stopped long enough to set one of their traps.
The traps were made of slats split from oak boards, and were a littleless than four feet square and a little more than a foot in height.In the top was a slide covering a hole large enough to admit one'sarm, and it was through this hole that the captured birds were to betaken out. The undergrowth was first cut away with the axe and thetrap put down in the clear space, a narrow board being placed undertwo sides of it, to give it a solid foundation. A trench just largeenough to admit a single quail was dug under each of these boards,one end of the trench being on the outside of the trap and the otheron the inside. A small ear of corn was tied firmly to the trigger,the trap set with the "figure four," a few kernels were scatteredabout in the immediate neighborhood, and the trap was ready for thefirst flock of quails that might come that way. When they came, theywould, of course, find the corn, and while they were eating it theywould be sure to find the trap. One or more of them would go in andspring it by pecking at the ear that was tied to the trigger, and theothers, no matter if there were a hundred in the flock, would all goin to him through the trenches before spoken of. After they had eatenthe corn, they would look _up_ instead of down for a way of escape,and, although the trenches at which they came in were still open tothem, they would not know enough to make use of them. If the trap wasonce sprung, the capture of the entire flock was certain, providedthose outside were not frightened away before they had time to go into their imprisoned companions.
In two hours' time the traps had all been set and the boys were athome again. They had done a good day's work, but they wanted to doa better; so as soon as the mule was unharnessed and the wagon putunder the shed where it belonged, they set to work in the shop again,and before dark a large coop, which would just fit into the wagonbox, was completed. This was to be used to bring home the capturedquails. After that one of the unoccupied negro cabins was selected toconfine the birds in until the required number had been trapped. Itreceived a thorough sweeping, the floor was covered with clean sand,and the broken window was boarded up so that the captives could notescape. When this was done David started for home, and Don and Bertwent into the house to get ready for supper.
The next day was spent much as the preceding one had been spent. Ateleven o'clock seven more traps were ready for the field. Then themule and wagon were brought into use again, and the new traps weredistributed along the fence. When the boys came back they took timeto eat lunch, after which the coop was put into the wagon, and theyset out to visit the traps they had set the day before.
"There's nothing here," said Bert, as he drew rein in front of thethicket in which the first trap was located. He could not see thetrap, but his ears told him all he wanted to know. If there had beenany quails in it they would have uttered their notes of alarm as soonas they heard the wagon coming.
"No, there's nothing here!" said Don, after listening a moment. "I'llscatter a little more corn about and make sure that the trap is allright."
He got out of the wagon as he spoke, and while he was working his wayinto the thicket he flushed a blue-jay, which flew into a tree closeby and scolded him with all its might. Don shied a stick at it andkept on to the trap. It was down, and there was something in it whichfluttered its wings against the bars and made the most franticefforts to escape. Don knew it was not a quail, so he did not stop tosee what it was. He threw back the slide, thrust his hand into theopening and when he clutched the bird received a severe bite from it."I have half a mind to wring your little neck for you," thought Don,as he brought the fluttering captive, a beautiful red-bird, intoview. "Not because you have bitten me, but because you will make ityour business to come here and spring this trap every day. Red-birdsand blue-jays are perfect nuisances when a fellow is trapping, and Iwouldn't blame Dave for shooting every one he sees."
But Don did not injure the bird. He was a sportsman, and never madewar on game of this sort. He tossed the captive into the air and itflew away out of sight.
Having set the trap again and scattered a little more corn about toreplace that which had been picked up by the birds, Don went back tothe wagon and Bert drove on down the field. They found the secondtrap thrown, and the marks of little teeth on the ear of corn thatwas tied to the trigger showed that a ground squirrel had been atwork. The third trap was also sprung, and the shrill, piping notes ofalarm which came to their ears when Bert stopped the wagon, told themthat they had made their first capture. Jumping quickly out of thewagon the boys made their way into the bushes, and when they camewithin sight of the trap they found that it was so full that thelittle prisoners had scarcely room to turn about.
"Here's the first instalment of your hundred and fifty dollars,Dave," cried Don. "We've got more than a dozen, I know!"
Having stopped up the ends of the trenches so that the quails couldnot escape, Don thrust his arm through the opening in the top of thetrap and began passing out the birds to his brother and David, whocarried them to the wagon and put them into the coop. He counted themas he took them out, and found that there were nearer two dozen thanone, twenty being the exact number. One, however, escaped from Bert,who, through fear of injuring it, handled it too tenderly.
"Never mind," said Don, when his brother told him of the loss. "He'llgo off and join some other flock, so we are bound to catch himanyhow. I call this a good beginning, don't you, Dave? It looks nowas though you were going to earn your money in spite of Lester andDan."
After re-setting the trap the boys got into the wagon and drove on.They found some of their traps just as they had left them; a few hadbeen thrown by ground squirrels or red-birds; and from the othersthey took enough quails to make their day's catch amount to a littleover four dozen. These were all safely transferred to the cabin, themule was unharnessed and the young trappers, greatly encouraged bytheir success, replenished the fire in the shop, for the day was rawand chilly, and went to work to build more traps.