The Cook County herald. [volume] (Grand Marais, Minn.) 1893-1909, 1896-10-03


and a tWinkling eye that looked out
from under bushy broWs. No one.
knew how old he was, Tor he had been
the first settler at Pudd's Hollow and
those who had followed him could not
hemember 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
ouldn't venture to say that he
wasn't nigh onto 800. 5
In the face OF all these speculations
1 old Eph Kept his peace, and when the
4 boys asked him Solemnly il he remem-l
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
a joke For he knew as Well as any
4 one that the boys were only i'll fun,
and that they enjoyed nothing better
4 than to- visit him in mis- little house by
the creek and to look at the rifles and
shotguns that hung on the raftcrs, 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. 5s ss5
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 partridges
squatted, where the ducks fed in the
rice. beds and the pools where the best
bass fishing was to be found. And,
besides this, hen he was in the mood
he could tell the most wonderful
4 stories, and this alone was enough to
endear him to all the boys Of Pudd's
Hollow. ssJ Js5 sg I. 5f IS
One sunny afternoon in late Septem-
ber Frank Staples, Con Bigelow and
Fred Horn walked up the grassy
wagon road from Pudd S Hollow to
the home of old Eph. Ashley climbed
over the stile that led to the house
Z they saw the old man working with a
number Of pals, crooks and tubs. In
deed, he seemed to have all the uten-
4 yard near the well house
Wonder what Eph's doin',,'' said
Con, with the greatest interest.
o'raps he's trying to keep a lot*of
fish alive in the tubs put in Fred,
who was the. Yollng gestsof the three;
ansMered with some
disgust, old Eph wouldn't be that
! foolish
But they all quickened their steps,
and when old Eph saw them he
B straightened up and smiled.
Hullo, boys he said, with the
greatest good nature. Il
And at that moment they peeped into
Il the tubs. b
Honey they all shouted in a breath
And honey it was, tubs and pals and
pans Of it, to say nothing Of the gen
T erous supply daubed on Eph's mouth
and hands.
ssHave a bite?' asked the old hunter,
and then without waiting for a reply
4 he dipped up a generous supply of rich
+ yellow comb. on three shingles and
passed them to the boys. The honey
melted rapidly away, and then the
!: boys began to ask questions.
Been finding bee trees, Eph ~ IA
sWaal, now, Whatd you s'pose this
come from, anyhow? Think it growed
In my garden?" and the old man
good humor over his success. "
When "a you find it ~ asked Con.
Last nj Molly an me have
been draWin' in honey ever SINCE
Where was it, Eph % asked Fred
eagerly. s8$
sWaal, now, that's p'inted. isn't it :?
II P'raps you'd like to go and find it.
4 I've seen whole families in the same
fix before, eh ~ and old Eph, kept the
j location of the tree quite to himself.
'Y'see, he said, 4sp' raps there's an
other tree around near there, and T
4 may want to get more honey fore
+ many days. .z55. 55
When the boys heard this they were
4 much excited, but tease as hard as
II they could they were unable to find out
4 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
4 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
Y bling away on the honey, and laughing
! and talking about IN Methusal EN-, & as
Fred called the Biblical pa atriarch. Old
Eph worked busily in the sun getting
his honey ready to take to town. He
listened ito the joking in the greatest
good nature, sometimes rallying Frank
fear of the water, but always :heaping
!. up the shingles with honey as often as
they We're passed up. s58 Il .5E
Toward sundoWn thes boys 1oitered
4 DIFF toward home
..I'll 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
D make some money ?' q?
Let's do I'll. Let's do it!! iitt!' exclaimed
4 Frank, much excited by the sugges-
9 tiOn. III
Fred was qnffe as fasei einated by the
plan as; were the other two boys; but
while they were discussing It his face
suddenly grew grave.
That would hardly be fair to old
4 Eph, J, & be said. Ssas
lever you fear about thai, 8 said
Con- Old Eph didn' tell us where st
6 is. did he? And If we find it, we find
it ourselves, don we? Well, then,
4 eIless we've got q right to look for #,
N syen't We. Frank ?''