Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1883-03-22

had ever seen him do any such thing as
that.
But he walked across the pasture-lot,
| toward the deep rAyinc that cut through
! the side OF the hill TO the valley.
All that time poor Julius had been
! hoeing away desperately upon the last
row Of his mothers potatoes, and she
/ had been smiling at him from the win
dow She was anxious he should get
/ through, for she meant to send bin 70
the village for a quarter of pound OF
| tea.
! 81 was just as Julius reached the last
I hill that the baby cried, and when Mrs.
! Davis returned to the window 10 say
something about the store and the kind
Of tea she wanted. all she could see OF
Julius was the hoe lying beside that last
bill
"Ef he hasn't finished dem taters and
run awayr'
She would have been proud of him il
She could have seen how wonderfully
fast he did run away, down the road he
had seen Cub and the other hunters
take
"Dey's into de lotr' he exclaimed,
when he came 10 the bars Oar Pete
Corry's ole straw hat lynn by dc stone
heap. Nus hab been sometin' won err
full, or he'd nebbcr forgot his hat
That was an old woodchuck, Of course,
or he would not have been so large, and
it may be he knew those boys as well az
Quib did II not, it was his own fault,
for every one Of them had chased him
before. and so had Cub. He knew
every inch Of that pasturc-lot, and he
knew the shortest way to the head Of the
deep raviro
"Boysw shouted Abe Selover. with ali
the breath he had. ''Boysl He's going
for the glenl Now we've got him.
The ravine was rocky and wonder
full place. and all the boys were per
fcctly familiar with il, and considered it
the grandest playhouse in the world,
or, at least, in the vicinity Of the village.
If Quih once got the woodchuck penned
up among those rocks, they could play
hide-and seek for him till they should
find him.
Some city people that had picnic
there once had called II "glen,N and
the name had stuck 10 il, mainly be-
cause it was shorter than any other the
boys could think of; and, besides that,
the school-master of the district two
years before (who didn't suit the trus-
tees) had been named Glenn. and so the
word must have been All right.
Some of the boys were near enough to
see t-ie woodchuck make for the two
naples at the head of the rayine, and
Bob Hicks tumblcd over Andy Thomp-
son while he was shouting:
Catch him. Quib"'
After they got past those two maple
trees there was no more fast running TO
b. done
Down, down, deeper and rocker and
rOuqhcr every rod Of il, the rugged
chasm opened ahead of them, and twas
necessary for the boys to mind their
steps IL was place where wood
chuck or small dog could get around
u good deal faster than any boy, but
they all followed Quib in a way that
would have scared their mothers If they
had been there.
Its grand funl' said Mat Penniman.
Finest woodchuck you ever saw
Come ON, boys shouted Abe
Selover, away ahead wen get him,
this time.
Abe had way OF being Just the next
boy behind the dog in any kind Of chase,
and they all clambered after him, in hot
haste.
On went Quib, and even Abe Selover,
could not see him more than half the
time, for he had an immense deal of
/ lodging 10 do, in and out among the
10 ~ ft1f La
I shady at the bottom OF that rayinc.
| The walls Of rock, where Abe was,
rose more than sixty feet high on either
side, and the glen was only few rods
/ wide At the widest place.
Hes holcd him. He's holed him,
/ Come on! we've got him, now!"
Quib was scratching and yelping like
an insane dog at the bottom of what
I looked like a great crack between two
rocks, in the left-hand side OF the glen
rs you went down. The crack was only
an inch or SO wide at tho bottom, and
twisted good deal as it went up, fol-
the rock WAS OF the kind known rs
pudding There q hole, Just
there, large enough for q woodehuck,
nut too small for dog.
Dig, BOYS! Dig
Dig yourself" said Pete CORY.
"Who' $ going to dig a rock, I'd like 10
| know 2"
'Lct Quib in, anyhow, He'll driv,
him out.
Abe was prljng at that holo with 8
dend branch Of tree. and almost while
be was speaking, u great piece Of The
loose pudding-stone fell of aud came
humping down at his feet,
a cave, boys cave! just loob
inr'
Quib did not wait for anybody to loob
in. but bounded through the opening
With a shrill yelp, and Abe Seloyel
squeezed after him.
Pete Cory felt little nervous wher
he saw how dark twas, bat he followed
Abe; and the other boys came on as fas
as The width Of the hole would let them
That j, they crept through, one boy
at a time.
What surprised them was, that Tia,
momcut they had crawled through that
ho they could stand up straight
"Whtre' thevoodchuck?' asked Boil
Hicks