The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1882-11-30

You would only skeer the game" And
he disappeared among the trees.
The rest of the company began dig
ging a hole in the side of the bank, and
the Cabot, having set his trap, soon
Joined them; for the idea of a cave was
very enchanting.
1t was slow work, however, digging
with knives and sticks.
Two, three, four hours passed by, and
still the Crocodile did not return.
1t was eleven o'clock and they were
ravenously hungry, But they were
frontiersnien now, and as such, must
not murmur. In fact, difficulties,
dangers and p~rivations were just what
was to give Zest to their wild life.
Don't Catamount Bill often 60 for
days without eatingP And couldn'ttheY
do the sameP
Noon came. The mouth of the cave
but the Crocodile had not appeared.
Hush! The report of a gun rang
through the woods. Undoubtedly, he
had killed a turkey, for he was the most
experienced hunter of them all.
1t seemed to the Cabot and the ANA
zon that he could near the dainty strips
of tender fowl sizzling on the fire, he
was SO hungry.
The Hyena threw some fresh wood on
the Goals, and the Capricorn was rubbing
the clay from his knife, to have it ready
for dressing the turkey, when the Croco-
die walked into camp, holding between
his thumb and finger a-red-headed
wood-pecker!
s.Not a thing on this blarsted island
but that he said, angrily, adopting the
phraseology of the great Catamount Bill.
s'If Ben Marble had a-tied the n
worth shucks, I'd a-had half a dozen
deer by this time"
~ thought you tied it." said Ben,
stoutly.
"Men, what's the use of quarrelingp"
said the brave little Capricorn. "Rob-
inson Crusoe made a canoe, and we can,
too"
"That'n take too long, now" said the
Catamount, feeling very hungry. 'Say,
boys-or men I mean-why not build a
raftP''
The plan was adopted, and, hurrying
to the sandbar at the upper end of the
island, they made, in the course of three
hours, a raft large enough for a dozen
men; for the Crocodile had no desire to
get into the water. He was a land
Crocodile and could not swim.
They had found plenty of drift-wood,
which they bound together with grape
vines; but alas! like Crusoe, they had
built their craft upon the land and could
not launch it.
Then they pulledit to pieces, and care
fully bound it together in the water.
| The sun was row low and there would
be little time for hunting after the Croco-
die should reach the mainland.
The water looked very black and the
raft very treacherous; but, concealing his
fear, the Crocodile stepped on board,
laid his gun across the logs, and, taking
the paddle, which they had made from a
piece of drift lumber, he gave the COM
mand to s.Push Ter off"
"Now, men," he said, ''be ready to
help me land my game, when 1 get
back" But just then the current caught
his craft, whirled it around, shook it up,
and, carrying it about ten feet from shore,
knocked it to pieces against a snag which
projected from the water.
Time-one minute and a half.
Results lot of grape-vines, logs and
a hat floating down stream; a gun in the
bottom of the river; and 'tThe Croker
die of the Mountings' sitting astride OF
the snag, bareheaded and frightened
nearly out of his wits.
"Help me outr' he yelled, shivering
with fear.
Cant you swim ten feetP" demanded
the Catamount.
stNo. I can't. Help me out"
"You are a purity Crocodile, you arei'
exclaimed the Capricorn.
.'Help me out, 1 sayr" yelled the
Crocodile, becoming angry.
They brought a grapevine and pulled
him to shore.
Why did they not enjoy itp They were
having just the kind of adventures to
make a book interesting; but they would
rather have done their starving with
| plenty to eat, and the Crocodile would
have preferred making his hairbreadth
escape from drowning on dry land.
There was no getting to shore without
swimming, and only Ben would have
dared the attempt. But Ben ha | no idea
of leaving the rest, and they made the
best of bad situation by keeping up as
brave an appearance as possible.
".
Again the moon sailed overhead and
the smoke of the campfire went straight
up. One by one the boys grew silent.
They were thinking of home; of fried
ham and eggs, hot biscuits, butter and
creamy milk; thinking of soft bells;
thinking of their mothers and wonds;-
ing if they were crying because then
boys were gone; thinking very little Of
the Rocky Mountains or of the Invisible
Catamount of the Crags.
At last they fell asleep.
Suddenly the woods of Wolf Island
resounded with frightful yells, the sharp
crack of rifles, and the kissing of bullets
through the trees.
The boys leaped to their feet and tried
to fly; but the circle of painted, bowling
dancing savages surrounded them,
brandishiag their tomahawks and adj
yancing to their destruction.
"'The Catamount of the Crags," the
"Galoot of the Amazon" and the ''Cap.
ricorn of the Arctic Zone" bored theil
heads into the ''cave," leaving a tangle
of wildly wrangling legs sticking out.
The Hyena of the Plains fell over
log and crawled under a grapevine
Wnlle Gne OF Gne MOUNT
ings" did his best to climb a tree, but wa
pulled down by a huge Indian, wht
brandished his knife about his head, pre-
paratory to scalping him. Then tn
~s'Crockerdile'' burst into tears and be
gan yelling for his Paw while thu
Catamount, Cabot and Capricorn joinet
in vigorous, though smothered, chorus
and the Hyena lay under the grape
vines, holding his breath and mental,
repeating: "Now 1 lay me down t
Sleep"
But the red men were memorable, an
their victims were savagely jerked insid
of a hideous, painted, bloodthirsty ring
"Ughr' grunted the tallest one anon
them. stMe killum you! Me eat you up
Me big chief "Ink-pa-du-tah!"
At the mention of the terrible name
1.-THE Crockerdile" actually howled wit
fright, though only the night before b
had wished that Ink-pa-du-tah and hi
whole tribe would attack Wolf Island
10000! Please, Mr.. Indian, don
kill mer' he blubbered, his face draw
into forty Wrinkles, for the tears to ru