The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1903-01-02
AN OUTLAW TRIBE.
By Frank Lille Pollock /.


and struck off into a wilder
ness broken by settlements only near
the navigable reaches Of the river.
was looking for farm.
My uncle, who had been in the mil
itia during the "Fenian raids" unex-
pectedly found himself entitled to a
quarter-secton of what was known
as veterans lands" In northern on
taro, and as he was unable TO leave
his business, l had volunteered 10 Sc
lect desirable claim. This would at
the same time give me an opportunity
for my customary annual camping
expedition.
By way Of companion. took with me
q small but abnormally restless fox
terrier who had been in the woods with
me before. No one can possibly be
lonely in the company Of fox-terrier,
and / had educated Jack 10 take a
more scientific interest in partridges
and rabbits than is natural TO his
breed. Having such small game and
the occasional backwoOds settlers 10
depend upon, ] expected to have no
difficulty about provisions, and carried
supplies i'm my knapsack. The rest Of
my load consisted simply N n gun and
n liberal stock Of ammunition. At the
end Of the corduroy road, with n geo.
logical survey map as n guide, l took
half-obliterated trail into the forest.
i found settlers less frequent, the
land less promising and the woods
much less penetrable than | had been
led TO expect. For three days and
half Jack and ! threaded the tangled
underground, became involved In
swamps, and RATED ourselves across
rivers. During all this time the
weather had been perfect, but the
fourth day rose cold and cloudy. At
about noon n heavy rain began. that
presently settled into n dismal, ALL day
drizzle which saturated everything
above ground, and produced an indie
scribably dreary effect Of autumn and
desolatiOn.
1t depressed even Jacks abundant
spirits. and he trotted soberly behind
me, manifesting only n slight interest
in the rabbit and woodchucli burrows
we passed. As for myself | did not
much mind getting drcnchod; but
greatly dislked the idea Of a wet
camp.
No shelter presented itself, but short
ly before sunset | came unexpectedly
upon an unmistakablc woOd-rOad,
choked with Second growth" yet in
dicating the neighborhood of human
beings. l turned up il at once. with
hn ,1o Ia,
clearing and hosptablc settler at
the end of it; but rs the road continued
TO show every indication of long dis
use, these hopes gradually weakened
Still, there was certain to hc n building
OF some sort, even If deserted, and, in
deed, quarter Of n mile farther the
road curved a little. and | saw before
me the expected clearing with the
empty log shanty, black -windowcd ana
deserted. staring drearlly through the
twilight rain.
1t was most NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
place, and under ordinary circum-
stances ! should vastly have preferred
camping in the open forest But I'm
this weather welcomed II aud pushed
through the dripping jungle OF shrub
berry, weeds and berry bushes that had
grown over ana choicd rather cx-
tensive clearing
The door had blown from It's leather
hinges and lay beside the threshold:
leaves had drlfted into the interior.
and there Were many birds nests in
the inner corners of the walls. The
internal aspect of the place suggested
that it had been abandoned for two
or three years at least but the roof
dld not appear TO leGk-not more. th?t
Us. than was naturally to he expected.
The shanty contained two rooms. and
In the larger and outer one was the
great rock fireplace. still showing
traces of blackcned brands. A couplc
of small windows appeared never TO
have been glazed. and there was not
stick of furniture about the place.
doorway with no door led To the in
ner apartment and the presence of
these two rooms, / thought indicated
tnat the house bad been occupied hv n
real family; a bachelor establishment
in the woods usually finds a house of
cne room most convenient.
This second chamber was fitted with
log shelf above the doorway. and on
the opposite wall another shelf seemed
TO have served as sort of table.
Evidently other travellers had been har
bored here before me, for the floor was
heaped with twigs of hemlock and
spruce, now dry and rusty red.
carried an armful of this material
back to the fireplace for tinder. and
split out one Of the window-framcs for
kindling. Jacks spirits had bright.
cned upon getting under shelter. and
he was manifesting enthusiasm over
hole which he had discovered i'm
remote corner of the floor. From its
small size | concluded that il was n
woodchuck's burrow. ana from the
dogs conduct 1 imagined that the
owner was at home. for he became so
noisy that | was finally compelled TO
suppress him with severity.
a blazing fire on the great hearth
made a world of difference i'm the an.
pearance Of the deserted house. ont.
side the rain still drippcd dismally. but
scarcely any Of it came through the
roof. and Jack and / supped i'm con.
siderable comfort on a couple of par.
tridges and lump Of hard bread. |
was tired, and after had dried my.
self as well rs | could. dragged i'm n
lnf of fha hnnln.is -. 4 -.