The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1896-09-03

Bph. Old Eph was little, dried-up
man.. with bristling gray chin whiskers
and a twinkling eye that looked out
from under bushy brows. No one
knew how old he was, for he had been
the first settler at Pudd's Hollow and
those who had followed him could not
hememJer that he ever looked any
younger Gene Tompkins, the post
master, said he recokoned Eph was be-
tween 100 and 200 years old, but he
wouldn't venture to say that he
wasn't nigh onto 30O.'
In the face Of all these speculations
old Eph kept his peace, and when the
boys asked him Solemnly if he remem-
bered seeing Gen. Washington, and
whether or not he was present at
the battle of Bunker Hill, his eyes only
twinkled slyly, and he passed it off as
joke. For he knew as Well as any
one that the boys were only in fun.
and that they enjoyed nothing better
than to visit him in mis- little house by
the creek and to look at the rifles and
shotguns that hung on the rafters, or
hear him tell how he shot the bear OF
coon whose hide he was stretching on
the boards at the back of his wood
shed. Et "a
Old Eph was a famous hunter, fisher
and bee man. He knew the woods as
well as most men know their own sit
ting rooms-where the cartridges
squatted, where the ducks fed in the
bass fishing was to be found. And,
~ ho a
he could tell the most wonderful
stories, and this alone was enough to
endear him to all the boys Of Pudd's
Hollow
One sunny afternoon in late Septem-
Der Frank Staples, Con Bigelow and
Fred Horn walked up the grassy
wagon road from Pudd's Hollow to
the home of old Eph. AS they climbed
over the stile that led to the house
they saw the old man working with a
number Of pals, crooks and tubs. In
deed, he seemed to have all the uten-
eils that he owned out in his back
yard near the we'll house.
"Wonder what Eph's doin',' said
Con, with the greatest interest.
''P'raps he's trying to keep a lot of
| fish alive in the tubs" put in Fred,
who was the. youngest of the three.
NO." answered Frank, with some
disgust; ''old Eph wouldn't be that
| foolish
But they all quickened their steps,
| and when old Eph saw them he
Strengthened up and smiled.
"Hullo, boys" he said, with the
greatest good nature.
And at that moment they peeped into
the tubs. .-,< .
| Honey" they all shouted in breath.
And honey it was, tubs and pals and
| pans Of it, to say nothing Of the gen
erous supply daubed on Eph's mouth
and hands @- Tx :. :
'Have a bite?" asked the old hunter,
and then without waiting for reply
he dipped up a generous supply of rich
passed them to the boys The honey
melted rapidly away, and then the
boys began to ask questions.
! "Been finding bee trees, Eph?''
! 'Waal, now, what'd you s'pose, this
come from, anyhow? Think it growed
in my garden?" and the old man
chuclzled to himself He was in rare
good humor over his success.
! 'When'd you find it?'' asked Con.
"Last night-an' Molly an me have
been DRAWN in honey ever since"
"Where was it, Ephy' asked Fred
| eagerly. - -f~--.s
''Waal, now, that's printed, isn't it?
| P'raps you'd like to go and find it.
I've seen whole families in the same
fix before, eh?' and old Eph kept the
location Of the tree quite to himself.
| "Y'see," he said, "p'raps there's an
! other tree around near there, and I
may want to get more honey fore
many days."
When the boys heard this they were
, much excited, but tease as hard as
they could they were unable to find out
anything more about it. So they be-
gan to joke old Eph about his age. 1t
was what they fell back upon when
ever they couldn't persuade the old
hunter to do just as they would have
! liked him to do. Close in the corner Of
the house they sat in the shade nib
ping away on the honey, and laughing
and talking about "Methusalem." as
Fred called the Biblical patriarch. Old
Eph worked busily in the sun getting
his honey ready to take to town He
listened to the joking in the greatest
good nature, sometimes rallying Frank
about his shooting or Fred about his
rear OF the water, but always heaping
up the shingles with honey as often as
they were passed up. T..
Toward shutdown the boys loitered
!. off toward home
III tell you what said Con, sud-
denly, "Old Eph knows where that
tree is, and it's probably got 200 or
300 pounds of honey in it. why can't
we rustic and find it ourselves. and
make some money e.
Lets do it! Let's do it!' exclaimed
Frank, much excited by the sugges-
! ton %
Fred was quite as fascinated by the
plan as were the other two boys; but
while they were discussing It his face
suddenly grew grave. e.
That would hardly be fair to old
Eph," he said. ~ Y
Il Never you fear about that" said
Con. old Eph didn't tell us where it
is, did he? And if we find it, we find
it ourselves, don't we? 2 Well, then, +
guess we've got a right to look for it,
haven't we. Frank y. s.. go a..
Frank agreed with him heartily. and
Fred, although not fully convinced,
could not resist the temptation of TAX
Ing part in the fascinating adventure.
Frank had once been out with Eph,
l. L