Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1899-01-05
REAR FOUND THE APPLES.
A New Yorker Helped Out ny
Country Boys skill
New York SUM

A New Yorker Heipeo O"' ~
Country Boys Skill
New York SUM
at began with the haymowing
bushel or so Of apples In STACK Vh a
meadow. The apples would nave pen
well worth the trouble. but result thtt
we had not thought OF was my kiiihs I
o-vear-old hear" said A. Il. Mclntire' re-
Iating some experiences Of the past SUM
,oer IN Maine when / say we, the Sc
cond marty referred TO Is Emory STONE
craft a lad of IL. who was Irequen'
companion of mine on fishing ana plseon
sbootinp trims. / had a standing contract
with him to keep me supplied WIN p"
worms. grasshoppers. mnho"s'
adapted to the varying tastes Vi tiou'
perch. and pickerel. AS was proper 'nu
fitting in a Maine country pOs, nv 80
an accurate knowledge Of the nshlng poS-
sibiIities of every pond and stream IN the
township the best holes 10 angle IN anu
,bo Kind of bait or fly most tempting 10
The fish In the season. He was HANDY III
making raft. in patching up and hand-
ling a leaky boat, and he knew the local
names and habits of most OF the prus
and animals that we came upon IN our
wanderings. II was with real regret that
we parted when, in September, hau u
return home. l., .bo
"Toward the end of August when the
early apples were ripening, our way u
the fishing waters lay for seVerai uagS
across an abandoned farm, situated IN
a. woods AT some distance from the
main road. The orchard was still stand
ing and bearing fruit Emory knew the
good trees, but the apples, wnen we trleu
them. were green and hard
"'Tu tell you what SAID Enoty oii
the second morning as he saw me o'te
into a hard, sweet apple. then throw II
away. there's a baystack down In tEe,
meadow yonder We might lug a lou oh
APPLES down and haymow en-
"Then. in answer to my inquiry 90 "
what ne meant, he explained Win
| shade Of pity In his tone for my Ieioi
| ence that the interior of a haymow lor
/ some months after the hay was put IN,
| uas always TO some extent warm ana
steamy. as compared with the dry an
without. BY burying apples that We're
unrine. though fully grown, deep IN the
NOW they ripened quickly and perfectly,
and gained a delicious flavor from the
| newlv-moWn hay In the absence OF q
convenient haymow the stack on TOE
meadow would do. l was favoraoly I'M
| pressed with the proposition, anu lor
| three successive mornings we TOOK ooWi
10 the meadow all the apples that we
l
and our collective pockets. These we de-
| nostted in three separate holes, Surrow-
ed deem in the sides OF the haystack' anc
having stuffed the openings tightly with
| hay. and put from sight every sign CT
our operations. we went away, Leaving
| the apples TO ripen.
"About ten days later when the apples
might be supposed to have ripened' We
made IT convenient to go pigeon-shooHne
bv way of the meadow. While l was ny
ing to stalk a lone crow ON the rector
Emory pranced on ahead to the nay
stack When l came up TO him lie was
standing, the picture OF dlsmay' among
a lot of hay that Uttered the ground. liz
did not speak at first, but pointed TO two
holes tunnelled into the stack leading II
the direction of our apple boards. / start
ed to investigate them.
ITS no use,' said the boy. They g
straight 10 where we put the apples
There isn't an apple left
"But we tucked away some apples oil
the further side of the stack l said
Let's see If they are gone, too.
81 went round TO the other side
the stack and saw that the hay had bee
disturbed. 1 poked into 1t with pol
and felt the nest of apples sun there
Emory followed me, muttering threat
against the robber.
"Jf find out who did this trick, T.
make him'-he had not got as far as TIL
when his note changed with ridiculou
suddeness. Jewhillikens Jeeswax9 h
yelled. less look here. That was IN
Teller that took our apples
'He was staring in high excitement g
n little spot of bare ground about fou
feet across, near the haystack. In IN
soft. moist earth two tracks were deepl
imprinted. They were large and lOnl
somewhat resembling the tracks OF
human foot, but where the ends or IN
toes would have come there were fiy
deeper indentatons In the ground, sue
as might have been pricked with sharI
pointed instrument.
"'Do you see those? DO you kno'
what they are? They're bear tracks
He went down on his hands and knee
to get closer look at the track
They're new ones he pronounced, me
: twelve hours old. See the mud squeeze
/ up at the Sides 1t isn't all dried We
( We can git that bear. He'll come bac
for the rest OF the apples, sure
well, here was more fun Ghead tina
had bargained for. had come TO Main
5 TO fish and to get two or three days pal
: fridge shooting, II might be, after tn
= season opened, and here was bear
| prospect My Bun was "a NhOht-bOlt, w
, suitable for firing ball. l had in my be
some buckshot cartridges that woul
serve at short range. but l was not Gel
. tain that | wanted 10 get quite so clos
! TO the bear as that Up 10 that time. n
, member, l had never killed big game, Q
seen a bear at large. Emory and 1 wer
talking over a scheme for lying in wa
for the bear that night with Winchests
/, rifles on top OF the haystack, when III
boy, who stood where he could look u
and down the meadow, gave a start
"I.ook quick he said. There he
. now. The bears a-comin'
Il looked over his head, past the stacl
= and there. surely enough. was the bea
And he was a-comin'. too, straight Il
where we were. with the stumbling bear
gait that seems slow to the eye, bl
covers ground like road-horse's pac
| Some cattle at pasture on on his lie
had spied him and set up believing
5 | and the bear, with his head cooked TO OF
> | side, was watching them as he went.
} | that he did not seem TO see us. dodge
back behind the stack, pulling the be
r | after me, replaced the bird-shot car.ridg
. ] in my gun with buckshot, and We bot