St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1871-10-06

| iN''bD i'l ''illtiilil- lDIil Sllth III Ill
ears in dignificd way, and the three o
luur yellow ours, who were Bulls satcI
iles yeIped dclightetly and discordantly
"Bll," said Bud Means TO his brother
lax the master ei he'd like to hunt coOnS
I'd like 10 take the starch out of th,
-tuck-up fellow
"Nou@h said,'' was Bilrs reply.
"lOu durn't do it," said Bud.
II don't take no scch dare return
ed Blll, and walked down to the gate
on which Ralph stood watching the star
come out, and wishing he had never
seen Flat Creek.
81 say, mister" began BilI, "thcy':
Il coon what's been Il calin' our chicken.
lately, and were goin' to Try 10 ketcl
the varmint. Iou wouldn't like to take
4 coon hunt nor nothin', would you?"
"Why, yes" said Ralph, "there'>
nothing should like better, if could
only be sure Bail wouldn't mistake III,
for the coon"
Aud So, as matter OF policy, RalpI
dragged his TIED legs eight or ten miles,
on hill and in hollow, after Bud, and
Bill, and Bull, and the coon. But the
raccOon climbed Il tree. The boys got
into 4 quarrel about whose business it
was 10 have brought the AK, and who
was to blame that the tree could not be
iclled. Now, ii there was anything
laslph's muscles were good for, it was 10
climb. 81, asking Bud to give him a
start, he soon reached the limb above the
one on which the raccoon was Ralph
did not know how ugly customer a
raccoun can be, and 80 got credit for
more courage than he had. With much
peril 10 his legs from the raccoon's teeth,
he succeeded i'll shaking the poor crca-
ture off among the yelping brutes and
yelling boys. Ralph could not help SYM
pathlzln. with the hunted animal, which
sold it lie as dearly As possible, giving
the dogs many 4 scratch and bite. 1t
seemed 10 him that hc was like the rae
coon, precipitated into the midst Of i
party of dogs who would rejoice in wor-
rying hls life out, ;l- Bull and his crowd
were destroying the poor raccoon. When
liuIl NJ last seized the raccoon and put
an end to it, Ralph could not but admire
the decided way in which lie did it, call
Ing 10 mind Buds comment '.When
Bull once takes Il holt, heaven and
yartll can't make him let 60
But Is they walked home. Bud carry
ing the raccoon by the tail, Ralph felt
that his hunt had not been in vain. lie
fancicd that even red-eyed Bull, walking
uncomtnriably close to his heels, respect
cd him more since lie had rllmat that
tree.
'rurty peart kind Of II MASTER" re
marked the old man TO Bud aiirr RIIph
had gone TO bed. ''Guc,> ,"u better be
a little easy on hlm. Hey =
But Bud deigned no reply Perhaps
because he knew Ralph heard the con-
vrrs;'lion through the tin partition.
Ralph woke delighted to find it rain
iug. He did not want to hunt and fish
OH Sunday, and this steady rain would
enable him to make friends with Bud.
| do not know how lie got started, but
after breakfast Ia began to tell stories
Ont Of all the books he had ever read hc
told story after story. And ''old man
Means" and "old .Uns Means" and
Bud Means, and Bill Means, and Sis
Means, listened with great eyes while he
told OF Slmbads adventures, of the Old
Man of the Sea, OF Robinson CruSac, OF
Captain Gullivcr's experiences in Lii
put, and of Baron Munchau>,.n's ex-
ploit,.
Ralph had caught his fish The hun
gry minds Of these backwood. people,
sick and dying of their own common
place, were refreshed with the new lite
that came To their ina4inaiiDnS in thc,c
stories. For there was but one book in
the Mean. library, and that, Il we'll
IlIumhcd copy of Captain ltilcy'- Nara
tive, had long since lost all freshness:
"l'll he do9-nn'd," SAID Bill cmphali-
caly, set hadn't rulhrr hear the mas
ter tell them whoppin' yarn+, than To 90
to a circus the best day | ever seed :"
Bill could pay no higher compliment.
What Ralph wante'l WAS 10 make a
II NIhi vi i'HNi- IL lli't lIiIle IL ltkt
the straightforward ship Oh your side.
and the more IIartsook admired the
knottcd muscles of Bud Means, the more
hc desired To attach him to himself SO
whenever he struck out Il peculiarly bril-
liant passage, he anXiouSly watched
Buds eye. But the young Phlislnc
kept his own counsel. lie listened but
sad nothing, and the eyes under the
shaggy brow give no sign. Ralph could
not tell whether those eyes were deep
and inscrutable, or only stVlid. Per-
haps IA little of both. When Monday
morning came Ralph was nervous lie
walked to school with Bud.
Il guess you're little skeered by
what the old man said, amt you ;"
Ralph was about 10 deny 1t, but on re-
Election concluded that it was always
best to speak the truth. He said that
Mr.. Means description of the school had
made him feel Il little down. hearted.
''What will You do with the tough
boys! You ant no match for 'em."
And Ralph felt Buds eyes not only
measuring his muscles, but scrutinizing
his countenance. lie only answered:
Il don't know"
"What would you do with me, for in
stance - and Bud stretched himself up
a5 If 10 shake out the reserve power
colled up in his great muscles
81 shan't have any trouble with you"
'Why, I'm the worst chap of nl. |
thrashed the last master myself"
And again the eyes of Bud Means
looked out sharply from his shadowing
brows TO see the effect of this speech ON