Chapter XV.
CHRISTMAS BIRD-CATCHING.
"Merry Christmas!"
It was the Captain's voice, who felt it a part of his duty to be thefirst "on deck" in the morning, but had a rival in his sister, who wasquite as active as he.
"_Merry_ Christmas! this what you call merry?" inquired Jim,fretfully, as with his finger he traced figures in the frost on theunder side of the canvas.
"Well, let's try to make it as merry as we can," Katy cried,cheerfully, from the starboard corner of the stern-sheets.
"I know what I'm going to do," said Tug--"make bird-traps. I lay awakea long time in the night planning them."
"While you fellows talkee-talkee I'll build a fire;" and Aleck's tallform was soon bent over the heap of wood, where a blaze was quicklycrackling. Tug and Jim followed, and all went out of doors, as wastheir custom, leaving Katy the whole igloo to herself for a littlewhile.
Immediately after breakfast Tug began on his traps.
He had brought along with him as a part of his baggage what hesometimes called his gunsmith shop. It consisted of a square tin boxthat would hold about two quarts of chestnuts--if he had had anychestnuts to put in it, which he hadn't. Besides a bag of No. 6 shot,this box contained one of the strangest and most worthless collectionsof odds and ends of boyish hardware that could be imagined. Acatalogue of it would be useless. Among other articles were aknife-blade that long ago had parted from its handle, a brad-awl inthe same condition, and a broken bullet-mould bound together by a longwinding of fine wire.
These three things the lad picked out and laid aside. Then he turnedover the rest of the contents of the box until he had secured severaltacks and brads of varied sizes, and a round piece of tin with holesin it. Next he discovered something which made him shout with a joyalmost equal to his delight at finding the tree trunk. This best ofall the finds, this forgotten treasure in the tin box, was a smallcoil of horse-hairs. They were the relics of a preparation he had madefor a short camping trip into the woods three months before, while theOctober haze and bright cool air were playing among the rustlingautumn leaves. How the scene came back to him! Now these hairs wouldserve him for a better use than mere amusement. He was carefullyunwinding them when Jim rushed in to say that the snow-birds werearound again.
"Good!" cried Tug. "Take some crumbs out of the cracker box, andquietly throw them down where the snow-birds can get them. Put 'em onthe top of the hummock first, then we'll gradually toll 'em downbelow. I'll be out in a minute."
Jim got his crackers and vanished. Aleck was chopping wood, and Katywas with him. It was a cold day, but sunny, and there were no signs ofthe snow melting. Tug, alone in the house, looked fondly at his tools,and having nobody else to speak to, talked to himself.
"We're like the boy and the ground-hog. 'We ain't got no meat for thesupper, and the preacher's comin'.' So I guess I'd better leave thetwitch-ups and make some common box traps that Kate and the kid canwatch. Come here--you!"
This last was addressed to a wooden box about twelve inches square, inwhich Katy had been wont to pack the small articles of table use. Tugturned them all out, and pulled off the leather hinges that held thecover. Then, taking an oak splinter from the firewood, he cut it tothe size of a lead-pencil, and notched it in the middle. In this notchhe tied the end of the ball of twine which formed a part of the boat'sstores, and cut off a length of about fifteen feet. Next, he drew thelocker out of the bearings upon which it rested, emptied it of itscontents, and made a stick and length of twine to fit it in the sameway. Lastly, he tore two pieces a foot or so square from their onestrong sheet of white paper. He had been at work scarcely ten minutes,but had ready two simple traps. Then he went outside and called toKaty, who came quickly.
"Katy," he said, "I have something for you to do. Please get a blanketand come out on top of the hummock, where you'll find me."
While the girl went inside for the blanket Tug climbed up to the icyhill-top, where a small flock of snow-birds were pecking away at thecrumbs Jim had thrown out. The lad crept stealthily towards them, andthough the birds moved away, they were not greatly frightened, and didnot go far. As quietly and rapidly as possible he spread down hispieces of paper on the highest part of the hummock, at a littledistance apart, and not far from the edge of the ice table. Then,setting his boxes bottom upward, he perched each one slantwise uponone of his sticks, and stretched the strings away to the hummock'sedge. On the paper underneath the boxes, and somewhat on the snowabout them, he spread his bait of crumbs. Then showing Katy, who hadnow come out, where she could hide herself behind the edge of theupheaved ice cakes, he told her to wrap herself up well in theblanket, and to keep perfectly still till the birds came back. Theywould pick at the crumbs until by and by one or two of them would besure to step under the boxes.
"Then," said he, "you jerk your string, the box falls, and Mr.Snow-flake is a prisoner."
So Katy took her position, and Tug, asking Jim to help him, went offto make some other traps.
"Youngster," he directed, "I want you to cut me eight square pieces ofice, each one about as big as a brick, and after that two slabs abouteighteen inches square and two or three inches thick. You can take theaxe and cut 'em out in big chunks from the hummock, and then saw 'eminto shape--here's the saw--and mind you keep away from where Katyis."
"What do you want them for?"
"For traps--never you mind why: you'll see presently," was the loftyreply.
Jim thought it a little unfair, but he good-naturedly took the axe andsaw and went to work.
In half an hour he came to say he was done, and was quickly followedby his sister, whose face was beaming.
"I've caught three!" she cried.
"Three? Good!"
"Yes, they came, a big flock--about forty, I should think--andchattered and twittered about over the house."
"I heard 'em," Tug exclaimed.
KATY TRAPPING THE SNOW-BUNTINGS.]
"Yes? Well, they seemed to enjoy warming their wings in the smoke, forthey flew through it lots of times. Then pretty soon one spied acrumb, and I suppose he called his fellows, for in a minute they cameall hopping about on the snow, and getting nearer and nearer theboxes. I got so nervous I could hardly hold the strings still, but Ikept as quiet as a mouse--"
"Or as a cat after a mouse!" interrupted Aleck, who had come in withan armful of wood.
"--and pretty soon one little bird went right under the locker. Therewas another close behind him, but I was too anxious to wait, and Ipulled the string, catching one and knocking the other over. It madeso little noise that the rest of the flock were not alarmed, and Isuppose they didn't miss the lost one, for pretty soon they began togo around the locker, and one flew right on top of it. I was afraid hewould tumble it down, but he didn't, and in a minute another had goneunder. But there was a third hopping right towards the paper, and so Ijust waited till he had run under, when--piff!--I had them both!"
"Good for you, Katy!" cried the delighted boys. "You'll make asportsman yet!"