Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1876-05-11

y
full you are.''
The witches had covered me all over
| with dust-colOred shawl, and had Gov
cred that with sods and MOSES and strips
Of bark to simulate halfdecayed trunk,
scattering pine needles over all, and stick.
ing into interstices, ferns, lichens, and
fnngi, till, as Amy said, it did look pre-
cisely like log. Lastly, they threw
down shawl in careless folds, set lunch
| basket on my chest, and stood off to see
the effect, which they declared to be
& wonderful"
" No human being would guess" said
Esther. YOU'D impose on Leather
stocking himself. Oh, girls, do call Alice
and Marian. They must be satisfied be-
fore this about those wretched trout.
Don't breathe word, but just ask them
to sit down on the log and make them
selves comfortable"
On me! Thank you," said I, speak
| ing as well as [ could through a mouth
full of lichens.
Oh, they sha'n't really sit down. Lie
still-quite still, dear Dolly Don't move
an inch, please don't; promise that you
won't. 1t will be such fun to cheat
| Alice"
g Very well. I won't. But be quick.
I'm comfortable enough now, but all this
blanket shawl and bark mag grow IN
pleasantly warm. never realized before
just how Daphne felt in the laurel"
" Good-by, Daphne Good by, Queen
Log. Well be back soon' With ring
ing laughter, off went the girls, Esther
lingering to give final touch to the
llchen over my left eye. ] smiled to my
self at the odd position, but even as [
smiled [ dropped to sleep again The
day was irresistibly drowsy, and there was
something delightful in this wood-slum-
Der, which even in deepest unconscious
ness | never lost hold Of The last thing
| saw, as my eyelids fell, was broad ray
Of sun strikinga half-open parcel of forks
and spoons which lay in the grass-NIrs.
PendeXter's property these, and careless
enough Of the girls to leave them thus.
But what did it signify? No spot on
earth could be safer than these summer
woods under the shadow of the New
Hampshire hills.
| This was my thought as I fell asleep. I
was reused by a sound of voices which
| even my locked senses recognized as I'M
familiar. opened my eyes. Two men
were sitting on the ground close to me,
but half turned away. They were shah
| in
rough corduroy trousers; the other, whose
clothes were dark, had a red handkerchief
| tied round his neck. This man had
thick beard and wild long hair yelling
pair Of savage gypsy eyes. But it was the
other face that frightened me most. 1t
was a SNUG, shaver face, but with an
| evil, cruel, furtive look, which [ do not
know how to describe. Faint with sudden
fear, | lay quite still. 1t seemed the only
| thing to do. But, oh, where were the
girls? | thought; and what would happen
if they came back?
| ''Give Us that there basket off the logr'
| were the first words [ heard. 1t was
the yelveteen man who spoke, and the
other reached out his hand and lifted the
basket from its place close to my chin [
trembled lest its removal had made me
visible; but the girls had arranged too ar
tistically for that, and the men seemed to
| suspect nothing.
1t took only moment to empty the
basket which kind Mrs Pendexter had
taken SO much time to fill
g Not bad find" said the SNUG man,
turning over the cold mutton and hard
eggs, and speaking with his mouth full.
''Eittle up, partner. Mayn't have anoth-
er chance Lord knows when"
partner" accepted the invitation cor
daily. Our luncheon disappeared down
his throat in large morsels.
Halo! here is a got" cried the SNUG
man, making a sudden dive at the parcel
of spoons and forks. He bit one Of the
spoons with his teeth, rapidly counted and
dropped them into his pocket, the other
man looking on.
" Real?" asked he of the red neckcloth.
:" No mistake. Eight of each. That's
twenty apiece. Stow away fast or some
one'll be a-coming."
[ hadn't supposed that even a wolf
| could stow" faster, but at this warning
the motion Of the jaws was accelerated.
AS the men ate they talked Their voices
were smothered, but | caught now and
then a sentence
Dog? Darn the dog! Easy silence
him"
" Yes, but -" Then I lost the con-
text.
You're sure as to the blunt?"
'SaW It handed over-seventeen hun
dred and odd in bills. Took it home
with him: Why, of course, you fool
These farmer fellows don't hang to
banks. l tell you he wants it handy to
lift his mortgage next week. Sure TO be
called for. Them Elkinses is always on
time Very sharp gentlemen, Elkinses
are
Slash your gab,' said the gypsy.
Folks coming. Ofs's the word'
The men jumped to their feet, listened
a second. One of them snatched up the
shawl which lay over the supposed log,
the other crammed the fraUments of tho