Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Mary Meehan, David Garciaand the Online Distributed Proofreading Team.
THE CAMPFIRE AND TRAIL SERIES WITH TRAPPER JIM IN THE NORTH WOODS
BY LAWRENCE J. LESLIE
1913
CONTENTS
CHAPTER
I. WHAT LUCK DID FOR THE CHUMS
II. HOW POOR TOBY WAS "RESCUED"
III. WHAT WOODCRAFT MEANT
IV. THE SECRETS OF TRAPPING
V. WHAT CAME DOWN THE CHIMNEY
VI. STEVE STARTS GAME
VII. THE UNWELCOME GUEST
VIII. SMOKING THE INTRUDER OUT
IX. BEFORE THE BLAZING LOGS
X. THE TRAIL OF THE CLOG
XI. "STEADY, STEVE, STEADY!"
XII. THE END OF A THIEF
XIII. A GLIMPSE OF THE SILVER FOX
XIV. THE PURSUIT
XV. GLORIOUS NEWS
XVI. SURPRISING BRUIN--Conclusion
WITH TRAPPER JIM IN THE NORTH WOODS.
"THE SILVER FOX!"]
CHAPTER I.
WHAT LUCK DID FOR THE CHUMS.
"It was a long trip, fellows, but we're here at last, thank goodness!"
"Yes, away up in the North Woods, at the hunting lodge of Trapper Jim!"
"Say, it's hard to believe, and that's a fact. What do you say about it,you old stutterer, Toby Jucklin?"
"B-b-bully!" exploded the boy, whose broad shoulders, encased in a blueflannel shirt, had been pounded when this question was put directly athim.
There were five of them, half-grown boys all, lounging about in the mostcomfortable fashion they could imagine in the log cabin which Old JimRuggles occupied every fall and winter.
"Trapper Jim" they called him, and these boys from Carson had long beenyearning to accept the hearty invitation given to spend a week or twowith the veteran woodsman. A year or so back Jim had dropped down to seehis brother Alfred, who was a retired lawyer living in their home town.And it was at this time they first found themselves drawn toward JimRuggles.
When he heard of several little camping experiences which had befallenToby Jucklin and his chums, the trapper had struck up a warm friendshipwith the boy who seemed to be the natural leader of the lot, MaxHastings.
Well, they had been writing back and forth this long time. Eagerly hadthe boys planned a visit to the North Woods, and bent all their energiestoward accomplishing that result.
And now, at last, they found themselves under the shelter of the roofthat topped Old Jim's cabin. Their dreams had come true, so that severalweeks of delightful experiences in the great Northern forest lay beforethem.
Besides Toby Jucklin, who stuttered violently at times, and Max Hastings,who had had considerable previous experience in outdoor life, there wereSteve Dowdy, whose quick temper and readiness to act without consideringthe consequences had long since gained him the name of "Touch-and-GoSteve"; Owen Hastings, a cousin to Max, and who, being a great reader,knew more or less about the theory of things; and last, but not least, aboy who went by the singular name of "Bandy-legs" Griffin.
At home and in school they called him Clarence; but his comrades, just asall boys will do, early in his life seized upon the fact of his lowerlimbs being unusually short to dub him "Bandy-legs."
Strange to say, the Griffin lad never seemed to show the least resentmentin connection with this queer nickname. If the truth were told, he reallypreferred having it, spoken by boyish lips, than to receive that detestedname of Clarence.
These five boys had come together with the idea of having a good time inthe great outdoors during vacation days.
And Fortune had been very kind to them right in the start. Although Maxalways declared that it was some remark of his cousin that put him on thetrack, and Owen on his part vowed that the glory must rest with Maxalone, still the fact remained that once the idea popped up it waseagerly seized upon by both boys.
They needed more or less cash with which to purchase tents, guns, andsuch other things as appeal to boys who yearn to camp out, fish, hunt,and enjoy the experiences of outdoor life.
As the Glorious Fourth had exhausted their savings banks, this brightidea was hailed with more or less glee by the other three members of theclub.
It was not an original plan, but that mattered nothing. Success was whatthey sought, and to attain it the boys were quite willing to follow anyold beaten path.
An account of valuable pearls being found in mussels that were picked upalong certain streams located in Indiana, Arkansas, and other states,suggested the possibility of like treasures near at home.
Now, Carson, their native town, lay upon the Evergreen River; and thisstream had two branches, called the Big Sunflower and the Elder. The boysknew that there were hundreds of mussels to be found up the formerstream. They had seen the shells left by hungry muskrats, and evengathered a few to admire the rainbow-hued inside coating, which Owen toldthem was used in the manufacture of pearl buttons.
But up to that time no one apparently had dreamed that there might be asnug little fortune awaiting the party who just started in to gather themussels along the Big Sunflower.
This Max and his chums had done. Their success had created quite anexcitement around Carson.
When it was learned what was going on, farm hands deserted their dailytasks; boys quit loafing away the vacation days, and even some of thosewho toiled in the factories were missing from their looms.
Everybody hunted for pearls. The little Big Sunflower never saw suchgoings on. They combed its waters over every rod of the whole mile wherethe fresh-water clams seemed to exist.
When the furor was over, and there were hardly half a hundred wretchedmussels left in the waters that had once upon a time fairly teemed withthem, the results were very disappointing.
Two or three small pearls had been found, it is true, but the majority ofthe seekers had to be satisfied with steamed mussels, or fresh-water clamchowder, as a reward for their hard work.
The wide-awake boys who first conceived the idea had taken the cream ofthe pickings. And from a portion of the money secured through the sale ofthese beautiful pearls they had purchased everything needed to fill theheart of a camper with delight.
Here, as the afternoon sun headed down toward the western horizon, theboys, having arrived by way of a buckboard wagon at noon, were lookinginto the flames of Trapper Jim's big fire in the log cabin, and mentallyshaking hands with each other in mutual congratulation over their goodfortune.
There was a decided tang of frost in the air, which told that the summerseason was gone and early fall arrived.
It might seem strange that these boys, who in October might be expectedto be deep in the fall school term, should be away from home and up inthe wilderness.
That was where Good Luck remembered them again, and the explanation issimple enough.
Even in the well-managed town of Carson, school directors sometimesneglected their work. And in this year, when the vacation period wasthree quarters over, the discovery was made that the big building was insuch a bad condition that certain extensive repairs would have to bemade.
In consequence, greatly to the delight of the older scholars, it wasdecided that school for them could not take up until the middle ofNovember.
As soon as Max learned of this delightful fact he knew the time had comefor their long-promised visit to Trapper Jim.
They had been tempted to go during the summer months, but as there waslittle to do in the woods at that period of the year save fishing, theboys had been holding off.
Now they could expect to use their gu
ns; to see how Jim set his cunningtraps that netted him such rich rewards each winter season, and to enjoyto the full that most glorious time of the whole year in the woods, theautumn season, when the leaves are colored by the early frosts and thefirst ice forms on the shores of the little trout streams.
As the afternoon passed they recovered from the effects of the longrailroad journey overnight and the joggling buckboard experience. Athousand questions had been fired at Jim, who was a good-humored oldfellow with a great love for boys in his heart.
"Take things kind of easy to-day, boys," he kept on saying, when theywanted to know why he didn't get busy and show them all the wonderfulthings he had in store for his lively young visitors. "I want you to restup and be in good trim for to-morrow. Plenty of time to begin work then.Knock around and see what it looks like where Old Jim has had his huntinglodge this seven years back."
So they did busy themselves prying into things. And between that hour anddark there were very few spots around the immediate neighborhood thatthey had not examined.
Jim's stock of well-kept Victor steel traps were commented on, andstories listened to in connection with this one or that. No wonder thehunting instinct in the lads was pretty well aroused by the time they hadheard some of these stirring accounts.
"If the whole bunch of traps could only talk, now," declared Owen, as hehandled a big one meant for bear, "wouldn't they make the shivers run upand down our backbones, though?"
Trapper Jim only smiled.
He had a thousand things to tell the boys, but, of course, he did notwant to exhaust the subject in the beginning. By degrees they should hearall about his many adventures. It would be his daily pleasuresto thrill his boy visitors with these truthful stories as they gatheredeach night around the roaring fire and rested after the day's work.
The shades of night, their very first night in those wonderful NorthWoods of which they had dreamed so long, were fast gathering now.
Already the shadows had issued forth from their hiding places, and thewoods began to assume a certain gloomy look.
Later on, the moon, being just past the full, would rise above the top ofthe distant hills toward the east. Then the woods might not seem sostrangely mysterious.
"When you're ready to begin getting supper, Uncle Jim," said Max, "youmust let us lend a hand. We don't know it all by a long sight, but we cancook some, and eat--wait till you see Steve begin, and Toby--Why, hello,here we've been chattering away like a flock of crows and never noticedthat our chum Toby was missing all the while!"
"Missing!" echoed Steve, jumping up eagerly at the prospect of theirfirst adventure coming along; and no doubt already picturing all of themstalking through the big timber, lanterns and torches in hand, searchingfor the absent chum.
"Who saw him last?" asked Max.
"Why, a little before dark," Owen answered, promptly, "I noticed himprowling around out among the trees. He called out that a cottontailrabbit had jumped up and was just daring him to chase after her."
"Looks like he accepted the dare, all right," said Bandy-legs.
"Where's a lantern? I choose a lantern. You other fellows can carry thetorches, because I got burned the last time I tried that game."
Steve was already beginning to hunt around as he talked, when TrapperJim, who had meanwhile gone and opened the door of the cabin, called tothem to be still.
"I thought I heard him right then," he said, "and it sounded to me likehe was calling for help. Get both those lanterns, boys, and light 'em.We've got to look into this thing right away."