Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1886-08-17
IN A rRAp-A TRrE STORY

Brave and eourageou, deed. are being
done sbou, us daily, which the world
outside seldom hears Of. Oae Of these
deed. has lately come under my obser'
v,,ion. and AIN going TO tell the boys
Who like to hear true stories, what an.
other boy has done.
oa small Homestead" farm. in one
Of our Western States. lives "Unele Joe
Samp,on. |, is aDoa, five miles away
from the village. and isa rather loaely
place in the woods. with no neissbor
nearer than two miles. Las, fall a neph'
ew Of Uncle joe. came from the city
TO vi.i, him. Willie Dane va. about
fourteen. = quick wi,,ed. courageous
fellos. who had never been IN the
"sool." until ihA, season. lie brought
/. gun with him. and uncle Joe. who i'
= grea, hunter aud tsppsr. took great
pleasure in showing bis nephew how to
hun, deer and such other game /"
abound. in the locality in which he lives.
When the corn began 70 mature. unele
Joe discovered "sisns" Of bear
"rll have to ss, the old trap on, and
clean /, up;' he said to Willie. when
the cora gets ripe think we shall De
able 20 catch bear OF two. They u
come into the cornfsld for something to
eat, for the beeehna,. aud aeorns will b.
gone by that time, because there i,a't
many ,hi. year"
50 the old trap va, brought down
from the ,hed.lof,. aud unele Joe oiled
IL. .,oa, spring and made such repair.
on /, n we're necessary. aud pronounced
himself ready for Bruin whenever he
va. driven by hunger TO seek food IN
the eorndeld.
I'll ,hink il mus, be a pretty hard JOB
TO sc, the trap" said Willie. As he look.
cd il over. III don't see how you 10
TO work TO crowd the spring down.
"rll show you abOu, that some day,
answered Unele Joe. "l,. easy enough
when you know how"
Uncle Joe owed abOu, fifiy dollars oa
a span Of horse, he had bOugh, in the
spring. lie had been cutting wood at
odd spell. during the summer, which
va. to be sold to the railroad running
through the village. lie could earn
enough in ,hi, way to finish paying ior
bis horses.
one day be wa, notified by the agent
Of the railroad company 10 ha1l the
wood TO town. When IL wa. there he
could have the money for IL. Accord
insly he Sc, TO work a, once. and at the
end Of the week the wood W. all piled
up I. the depot. and be came back from
town with money enough in his pocket
70 make the las, paymen, on his team.
81 dou', care to carry !, abou, with
me-" he said TO his wife that evening.
"rll put II in this box. I'll be safe
enough here. | guess, till get chance
20 send it to Brown" SO uncle Joe put
the money in q box ,hA, stood on little
shelf in one corner Of the living room,
and supposed ,ha, no one but himself,
hi. wife and Willie knew anything
Abou, il. But. as he found out after
ward. a tramp saw him pa, the money
away. Tramps were numerou. In that
par, Of the country AMI were often dis
covered prowling abou, the house alter
dark, but he never thought OF such a
thing as being seen by one when he put
the money in the box. The next after.
noon Uncle Joe came in from the corn.
feld and said that q bear had been at
work in the corn.
"we'll Sc, the trap tonight he said.
"rll show you how It's done now, II
you'll 20 and bring IL in." Willie went
10 the she'd. took the trap down from the
nail upon which Uncle Joe had hung 1t
af,sr oilips IL. and brOush, 1t into the
kitchen.
"Bring one of the hand.'Pikes that's
ou, by the wood pile" said Uncle Joe'
and Willie did 80. Then bis uncle put
one end Of the lever in crack between
the log. on which the house was built.
close to the floor, and placed the still
spring under il. BY bearing down on
the lever the spring was shu, together
allowing the jaws Of the trap to fall open
I, was then an easy matter TO fAs'en
them open by turning piece OF iron over
one Of them and fitting the end OF II IN
q notch q, the side Of the "pan. IL
anything touched this ''Psn," the pres
sure on II released the iron from the
notch. and the great spring would fly up
and fling the jaws together like HASH
and whsisver happened to be between
them when they closed. was sure to stay
there until some one saw q, to liberste Il
al see how !, Is done now said
Willie. 81 wouldn't like to get my loot
In there" he added, looking at the jaws
Of the trap. which had shsrp teeth some
thing like those Of saw. along each In.
ner edge. Jus, then knock Was heard
=, a.. dco, and Mrs. Sampsou admitted