"They"ll let us have the dog," said John York. "I don"t know but I"ll give a quarter for him, and we"ll let "em have a good piece o" the c.o.o.n."
"You really comin" "way up here by night, c.o.o.n-huntin"?" asked Isaac Brown, looking reproachfully at his more agile comrade.
"I be," answered John York.
"I was dre"tful afraid you was only talking, and might back out,"
returned the cheerful heavy-weight, with a chuckle. "Now we"ve got things all fixed, I feel more like it than ever. I tell you there"s just boy enough left inside of me. I"ll clean up my old gun to-morrow mornin", and you look right after your"n. I dare say the boys have took good care of "em for us, but they don"t know what we do about huntin", and we"ll bring "em all along and show "em a little fun."
"All right," said John York, as soberly as if they were going to look after a piece of business for the town; and they gathered up the axe and other light possessions, and started toward home.
III
The two friends, whether by accident or design, came out of the woods some distance from their own houses, but very near to the low-storied little gray dwelling of Mrs. Price. They crossed the pasture, and climbed over the toppling fence at the foot of her small sandy piece of land, and knocked at the door. There was a light already in the kitchen.
Mrs. Price and Eliza Jane Topliff appeared at once, eagerly hospitable.
"Anybody sick?" asked Mrs. Price, with instant sympathy. "Nothin"
happened, I hope?"
"Oh, no," said both the men.
"We came to talk about hiring your dog to-morrow night," explained Isaac Brown, feeling for the moment amused at his eager errand. "We got on track of a c.o.o.n just now, up in the woods, and we thought we"d give our boys a little treat. You shall have fifty cents, an" welcome, and a good piece o" the c.o.o.n."
"Yes, Square Brown; we can let you have the dog as well as not,"
interrupted Mrs. Price, delighted to grant a favor. "Poor departed "Bijah, he set everything by him as a c.o.o.n dog. He always said a dog"s capital was all in his reputation."
"You"ll have to be dreadful careful an" not lose him," urged Mrs.
Topliff "Yes, sir; he"s a proper c.o.o.n dog as ever walked the earth, but he"s terrible weak-minded about followin" "most anybody. "Bijah used to travel off twelve or fourteen miles after him to git him back, when he wa"n"t able. Somebody"d speak to him decent, or fling a whip-lash as they drove by, an" off he"d canter on three legs right after the wagon.
But "Bijah said he wouldn"t trade him for no c.o.o.n dog he ever was acquainted with. Trouble is, c.o.o.ns is awful sca"ce."
"I guess he ain"t out o" practice," said John York amiably; "I guess he"ll know when he strikes the c.o.o.n. Come, Isaac, we must be gittin"
along tow"ds home. I feel like eatin" a good supper. You tie him up to-morrow afternoon, so we shall be sure to have him," he turned to say to Mrs. Price, who stood smiling at the door.
"Land sakes, dear, he won"t git away; you"ll find him right there betwixt the wood-box and the stove, where he is now. Hold the light, "Liza Jane; they can"t see their way out to the road. I"ll fetch him over to ye in good season," she called out, by way of farewell; ""twill save ye third of a mile extra walk. No, "Liza Jane; you"ll let me do it, if you please. I"ve got a mother"s heart. The gentlemen will excuse us for showin" feelin". You"re all the child I"ve got, an" your prosperity is the same as mine."
IV
The great night of the c.o.o.n-hunt was frosty and still, with only a dim light from the new moon. John York and his boys, and Isaac Brown, whose excitement was very great, set forth across the fields toward the dark woods. The men seemed younger and gayer than the boys. There was a burst of laughter when John Henry Brown and his little brother appeared with the c.o.o.n dog of the late Mr. Abijah Topliff, which had promptly run away home again after Mrs. Price had coaxed him over in the afternoon. The captors had tied a string round his neck, at which they pulled vigorously from time to time to urge him forward. Perhaps he found the night too cold; at any rate, he stopped short in the frozen furrows every few minutes, lifting one foot and whining a little. Half a dozen times he came near to tripping up Mr. Isaac Brown and making him fall at full length.
"Poor Tiger! poor Tiger!" said the good-natured sportsman, when somebody said that the dog didn"t act as if he were much used to being out by night. "He"ll be all right when he once gets track of the c.o.o.n." But when they were fairly in the woods, Tiger"s distress was perfectly genuine. The long rays of light from the old-fashioned lanterns of pierced tin went wheeling round and round, making a tall ghost of every tree, and strange shadows went darting in and out behind the pines. The woods were like an interminable pillared room where the darkness made a high ceiling. The clean frosty smell of the open fields was changed for a warmer air, damp with the heavy odor of moss and fallen leaves. There was something wild and delicious in the forest in that hour of night.
The men and boys tramped on silently in single file, as if they followed the flickering light instead of carrying it. The dog fell back by instinct, as did his companions, into the easy familiarity of forest life. He ran beside them, and watched eagerly as they chose a safe place to leave a coat or two and a basket. He seemed to be an affectionate dog, now that he had made acquaintance with his masters.
"Seems to me he don"t exactly know what he"s about," said one of the York boys scornfully; "we must have struck that c.o.o.n"s track somewhere, comin" in."
"We"ll get through talkin" an" heap up a little somethin" for a fire, if you"ll turn to and help," said his father. "I"ve always noticed that n.o.body can give so much good advice about a piece o" work as a new hand.
When you"ve treed as many c.o.o.ns as your Uncle Brown an" me, you won"t feel so certain. Isaac, you be the one to take the dog up round the ledge, there. He"ll scent the c.o.o.n quick enough then. We"ll tend to this part o" the business."
"You may come too, John Henry," said the indulgent father, and they set off together silently with the c.o.o.n dog. He followed well enough now; his tail and ears were drooping even more than usual, but he whimpered along as bravely as he could, much excited, at John Henry"s heels, like one of those great soldiers who are all unnerved until the battle is well begun.
A minute later the father and son came hurrying back, breathless, and stumbling over roots and bushes. The fire was already lighted, and sending a great glow higher and higher among the trees.
"He"s off! He"s struck a track! He was off like a major!" wheezed Mr.
Isaac Brown.
"Which way"d he go?" asked everybody.
"Right out toward the fields. Like"s not the old fellow was just starting after more of our fowls. I"m glad we come early,--he can"t have got far yet. We can"t do nothin" but wait now, boys. I"ll set right down here."
"Soon as the c.o.o.n trees, you"ll hear the dog sing, now I tell you!" said John York, with great enthusiasm. "That night your father an" me got those four busters we"ve told you about, they come right back here to the ledge. I don"t know but they will now. "Twas a dreadful cold night, I know. We didn"t get home till past three o"clock in the mornin", either. You remember, don"t you, Isaac?"
"I do," said Isaac. "How old Rover worked that night! Couldn"t see out of his eyes, nor hardly wag his clever old tail, for two days; thorns in both his fore paws, and the last c.o.o.n took a piece right out of his off shoulder."
"Why didn"t you let Rover come to-night, father?" asked the younger boy.
"I think he knew somethin" was up. He was jumpin" round at a great rate when I come out of the yard."
"I didn"t know but he might make trouble for the other dog," answered Isaac, after a moment"s silence. He felt almost disloyal to the faithful creature, and had been missing him all the way. "Sh! there"s a bark!"
And they all stopped to listen.
The fire was leaping higher; they all sat near it, listening and talking by turns. There is apt to be a good deal of waiting in a c.o.o.n-hunt.
"If Rover was young as he used to be, I"d resk him to tree any c.o.o.n that ever run," said the regretful master. "This smart creature o" Topliff"s can"t beat him, I know. The poor old fellow"s eyesight seems to be going. Two--three times he"s run out at me right in broad day, an"
barked when I come up the yard toward the house, and I did pity him dreadfully; he was so "shamed when he found out what he"d done. Rover"s a dog that"s got an awful lot o" pride. He went right off out behind the long barn the last time, and wouldn"t come in for n.o.body when they called him to supper till I went out myself and made it up with him. No; he can"t see very well now, Rover can"t."
"He"s heavy, too; he"s got too unwieldy to tackle a smart c.o.o.n, I expect, even if he could do the tall runnin"" said John York, with sympathy. "They have to get a master grip with their teeth through a c.o.o.n"s thick pelt this time o" year. No; the young folks get all the good chances after a while;" and he looked round indulgently at the chubby faces of his boys, who fed the fire, and rejoiced in being promoted to the society of their elders on equal terms. "Ain"t it time we heard from the dog?" And they all listened, while the fire snapped and the sap whistled in some green sticks.
"I hear him," said John Henry suddenly; and faint and far away there came the sound of a desperate bark. There is a bark that means attack, and there is a bark that means only foolish excitement.
"They ain"t far off!" said Isaac. "My gracious, he"s right after him! I don"t know"s I expected that poor-looking dog to be so smart. You can"t tell by their looks. Quick as he scented the game up here in the rocks, off he put. Perhaps it ain"t any matter if they ain"t stump-tailed, long"s they"re yaller dogs. He didn"t look heavy enough to me. I tell you, he means business. Hear that bark!"
"They all bark alike after a c.o.o.n." John York was as excited as anybody.
"Git the guns laid out to hand, boys; I told you we"d ought to follow!"
he commanded. "If it"s the old fellow that belongs here, he may put in any minute." But there was again a long silence and state of suspense; the chase had turned another way. There were faint distant yaps. The fire burned low and fell together with a shower of sparks. The smaller boys began to grow chilly and sleepy, when there was a thud and rustle and snapping of twigs close at hand, then the gasp of a breathless dog.
Two dim shapes rushed by; a shower of bark fell, and a dog began to sing at the foot of the great twisted pine not fifty feet away.
"Hooray for Tiger!" yelled the boys; but the dog"s voice filled all the woods. It might have echoed to the mountain-tops. There was the old c.o.o.n; they could all see him half-way up the tree, flat to the great limb. They heaped the fire with dry branches till it flared high. Now they lost him in a shadow as he twisted about the tree. John York fired, and Isaac Brown fired, and the boys took a turn at the guns, while John Henry started to climb a neighboring oak; but at last it was Isaac who brought the c.o.o.n to ground with a lucky shot, and the dog stopped his deafening bark and frantic leaping in the underbrush, and after an astonishing moment of silence crept out, a proud victor, to his prouder master"s feet.
"Goodness alive, who"s this? Good for you, old handsome! Why, I"ll be hanged if it ain"t old Rover, boys; _it"s old Rover_!" But Isaac could not speak another word. They all crowded round the wistful, clumsy old dog, whose eyes shone bright, though his breath was all gone. Each man patted him, and praised him and said they ought to have mistrusted all the time that it could be n.o.body but he. It was some minutes before Isaac Brown could trust himself to do anything but pat the sleek old head that was always ready to his hand.
"He must have overheard us talkin"; I guess he"d have come if he"d dropped dead half-way," proclaimed John Henry, like a prince of the reigning house; and Rover wagged his tail as if in honest a.s.sent, as he lay at his master"s side. They sat together, while the fire was brightened again to make a good light for the c.o.o.n-hunt supper; and Rover had a good half of everything that found its way into his master"s hand. It was toward midnight when the triumphal procession set forth toward home, with the two lanterns, across the fields.
V
The next morning was bright and warm after the hard frost of the night before. Old Rover was asleep on the doorstep in the sun, and his master stood in the yard, and saw neighbor Price come along the road in her best array, with a gay holiday air.
"Well, now," she said eagerly, "you wa"n"t out very late last night, was you? I got up myself to let Tiger in. He come home, all beat out, about a quarter past nine. I expect you hadn"t no kind o" trouble gittin" the c.o.o.n. The boys was tellin" me he weighed "most thirty pounds."
"Oh, no kind o" trouble," said Isaac, keeping the great secret gallantly. "You got the things I sent over this mornin"?"