Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1889-09-12
WRIGGLES AND THE THIEF.

Last summer with three friends
spent some months among the Adiron
dacks, camping in a cabin which we hat
built near Buck Pond on the headwater
of the west branch of the st. Regis
Our purpose was to gain health by va
cation in the woods, and if l should tel
you how many pounds the party weigh
ed i'll the aggregate when we went il
and how many more we weighed as VIZ
came out, there would be no question il
your mind as to the success of our plan
We were all good fisherman and fail
hunters, and two of us could cook rea
sonably well, so we were not accompan-
led by guides.
1t was our custom to decide each
evening upon the sport of the day fol
lowing, then lookup the cabin after
breakfast, if no one was to remain at
home, take a lunch and depart on our
various routes.
Sometimes we fished all together,
sometimes in two parties; and yet again
two would hunt and two make the tramp
to the nearest house, some eleven miles,
and bring in fresh supplies; and each
day found us busy at something.
Most of the time we were away from
the cabin all day, and at first we felt no
fear of marauders, but during the sec
Ond month our suspicious were aroused.
Two or three times we had seen strange
tracks in the soft earth near our camp;
once the door and paddock which secur-
ed it had evidently been tampered with,
and at last we began to miss articles
which happened to be outside the cabin.
Charlie Powell lost rod which he
had thoughtlesSly left leaning against a
tree one morning, and Fred Clark his
pipe, which he was sure he had laid on
the bench near the door. 1t became
plain to us that some woods tramp was
shadLwing our camp with the intent to
steal anything he might lay his hands
on, and we put our brains at work to
circumvent him.
Among other accumulationS which
we had made while in the forest was a
large blacksnake which Dan Lyman had
caught in the Madawaska swamp and
brought home alive, and finding the fel-
low dOcile and harmless, we had fed
him at the cabin and sought to in
duce him to make it his home so that
he might be our house cat. For it is
well known that the blacksnake will
catch rats, mice, squirrels and other
small deer, much as the cat does, and
many of the reptiles are domiciled in
Southern homes for that purpose.
Although Powell and L at first seri-
ously objected to snake as boarder,
the other boys laughed at us so much |
that we gave in and allowed Wriggles, |
as Dan had named him, to crawl about
unmolested, and in months time he
would come at call to be fed milk or
eggs, of which he was very fond.
Usually at night he eoiled up in one
corner of the cabin, although several |
times when it was chilly 1 had found
the rascal under the stove and driven
him out. He was as partial to heat as
a dog, and Lyman had at last made box
for him Just inside the door and filed it
with dry grass, where latterly Wriggles
had slept at night. Several times we
had heard him moving about the floor in
the dark, but although he occasioned
a great deal of joking as to what would
occur if he should invade our hunks,
thus far he had not attempted such fa-
We kept our eggs in paper flour
sack in one corner of the room, and it
was evident that Wriggles knew it, for
several times he had been driven away
from its vicinity, but as yet we had not
caught him in the sack, and so no
change was made. When we departed
upon our daily excursions it was the du-
5y of the last one out to see that the
snake had left the cabin before the door
was locked, lest he should do some dam
age during our absence, and it was only
1T night that he was usually to be found
indoors. The evening after our discOv-
cry of the loss of the rod and pipe, we
discussed many plans for capturing the .
,hief, and at length it was determined
hat one OF two of us should remain in
camp for a day or so, concealed, in
hopes that when our visitor next called
We might be able to lay hands on him
md drawing lots for the first days guard
mount it fell to me, much to my salts !
action.
OF course the boys offered me all sorts :
If advice as to what to do and how to :
10 it. Lyman even suggested that l !
hOuld climb tree and watch from its
branches all day; but 1 scoffed at their +
notions and promised them had much =
)etter plan of my own safely in my head !
Morning dawned bright and clear and
ny companions prepared for fishing 9
rip and visit to Long Pond, distant {
hree miles; half regretted that l must +
,ass the day alone at home. However, =
hey soon got off and then l began to =
matters for the success of my ;
,lan. U
First l left the key in the paddock, as
f by accident, and took everything of a
alue within doors. a
Then prepared the upper bunk so +
hat might lie in it hidden behind n
blankets, apparently tossed there care
essly, and see all that went on in the r
abin. L proposed to conceal myself h
here, and when the thief entered, as l 9
elt sure he would, and begin to pick up
lis plunder, to capture him at the muZ- II
lie of my gun. Not that l expected to "
ave to shoot. Probably that would n
ever have occurred, even if tie un- "
nown had walked off when ordered to !,
alt, but | felt sure that a fellC mean o
nough to be sneak thief in tae woods a
rould also be coward, so easy of cap I,
ure if discovered. K
Having thus planned my campaign l h
losed the door and seated myself near n
window in the loft where | could see