The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1875-03-19
CAUGHT by WOLVES.


make the going easy for man and beast.
There never was such n time fer sleigh
ing and for bees of all sorts. Never
such a winter for wild animals, either,
and the whole country was alive with
bear and wolf yarns. Trade was lively,
and the smart-looking store mt Square
-Four Corners could hardly ever be de-
serted by both its owners the same
night, no matter what the frolic was.
That was the way the GOODNESS began
began between the two members of the
firm of Cakes a. Mapleson. If it was
Jim Cakes turn to go ont, Harry Maple
son was sure he would spend the evening
at Squire Galbraiths on the hill, and
when it was the other way Harry would
scowl ut his customers till shutting-up
time, i'll the certainty that Jim's cutter
was hauled III under the capacious shed
at the Squire's.
Two bouncing, meIry-eyed, self-willed,
whole-souled girls were Maggie and An
ME Galbraith, and such bellies were they
OF the village and all the country round,
chat either jim or Harry might have been
IN . manner contented, since they had n
fair certainty that neither one of them
would catch the Galbraith girls alone.
Foolish fellows, as they were, how
ever, they let the mutual GOODNESS grow,
until now it was pretty evident that IA
crisis could not long be postponed. In
fact, each one had determined i'll his own
mind not to let the other out alone again,
business or no business, and it was by
n sort of common consent that they both
made arrangement to go to the grand
quilting bee Mt Elder Moseley's, out at
the head of Feather Lake, dozen miles
away.
not word did they say to each other
beforehand, but they both hit on the
same evening for calling at Squire Gal
-braith's to secure their partners.
This, too, was awkward again, and
the girls themselves seemed to feel it.
They were shy and offish, and there were
endless blsnders and bushes all around,
but the upshot of il all was that Maggie
was driven TO the Elders by jim Cakes,
while Harry Mapleson took charge of
the blooming Annie.
The sleighing was splendid, and the
fun at the quilting was of the genuine,
old-time, up-cOuntry sort, but none of
the party from Square -Four Corners
seemed to enjoy it to the full.
jeff Galbraith, the younger brother of
the two bellies, II sturdy, bright-eyed,
practical joker of sixteen or thereabout,
after teasing both couples to his heart
content, managing to keep both his sisters
m the hands of other admirers for more
than two-thirds of the time, finally re-
tired to a corner to devise with himself
the ways and means of fresh annoyance.
Nor WAS it long before bright idea
came TO him.
1t did not take him great while to
effect "A loan of the horse and "pongo"
that had brought his own weight to the
quilting, so he would have fair excuse
Cor adding himself to Harry Maplesons
turnout, and a brief absence III the barn
yard enabled him to effect certain prom
ising alterations in the arrangement of
Jim Cakes cutter. 1t looked all the
better for Jeff's plan that both the
sleighs were OF the most cosy and diminu-
tive pattern, hardly large enough for
two.
So much done, and Jeff was back in
the house just in time to call Harry out
from the most comfortable quarters he
had had as yet; but Jeff looked serious.
and Harry came.
g Have you heard all this about the
y wolves z" asked Jeff.
80 What about them Z" said Harry.
"Uh, orQves and droves of them in the
woods. We must keep together going
nome, and wish we had our guns
along"
jeff was a trife taken aback at this,
Tor Harry replied:
"Of course L have, and so has jim.
Yon don't take us for a pair of fools, do
yOus Double barrels, and plenty of
buckshot.
Jeff's face lengthened for a moment,
for he thought of his lent horse and his
work i'll the barn-yard; but his boyish
recklessness came to his aid, and he re-
piled:
CAL right; III borrow a gun of the
Elder, and I'll ride home with You. Pop
Watkins has borrowed my turnout to
take his wife home with, for his girls
want their sleigh to their own company"
Harry again seemed much more philo-
sophical and don 't-carish than jeff had
anticipated, and the young joker went
off TO find the Elder.
His request for II gan was received
with q degree of sober acquiescence that
was an awful cooler on the fun of the
thing, and the old man said, as he
brought out an enormous old "deer-
gun and the ammunition TO match
JEFF, my boy, yer right. We folks
right around the lake amt in no danger,
but / wouldn't like to he caught to-
night betwixt there and Square without
weapons That ar old iron throws grist
o lead.
jeff inwardly acquiesced as he looked
down the capacious double-throat of the
big gun, and wondered " if the old
ching kicked very bad.
When thetime came, as it soon did,
for the "bee" to break up, the moon
was shining brightly among the frosty
trees and on the snowy hillsides, and
everything was propitious for ride
home. And yet, not only Jim and
Maggie, but Harry and Annie, felt as if
the whole occasion had been one of
.rross-purposes and misunderstanding