Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1912-09-26


would have felt uneasy at being
compelled to remain alone with
them in the woods; for cases in
which one had murdered another.
in order to get possession of the
goods in these remote regions,
were talked of among the other
rumors of the borders; but Ger
shom had that in his air and
manner that rendered Ben con-
fident his delinquencies, at the
most, would scarcely reach blood
shed. Pilfer he might; but muir
der was crime which he did not
appear at all likely to commit.
After supping in company, our
two Adventures secured every
thing, and retiring to the chiente,
they went to sleep. No material
disturbance occurred, but the night
passed in tranquility; the bee
hunter merely experiencing some
slight interruption to his
slumbers from the un-
usual circumstance Of having a
companion. One as long accustom-
ed to be alone as himself would
naturally submit to some such sem
sation, our habits getting SO COM
pletely the mastery as often to
supplant even nature.
The following morning the bee
hunter commenced his prepara-
tons for a change of residence
Had he not been discovered, it is
probable that the news received
from the Chippewa would not have
induced him to abandon his pre-
sent position SO early in the sea-
son; but he thought the risk Of
remaining was too great, under all
the circumstances. The Pottawat-
TAME, in particular, was a SUBJ
ject of great distrust to him, and
he believed it highly possible some
of that old chiefs tribe might be
after his scalp ere many suns had
risen. Gershom acquiesced in these
opinions, and as soon as his brain
was less under the influence Of
liquor that was common with him,
he appeared to be quite happy
in his power to form a species Of
alliance, offensive and defensive,
with man of his own color and
origin.
Great harmony now prevailed
between the two Gershom improv-
ing vastly in all the better quail
ties the instant his intellect and
feelings got to be little released
from the thralldom of the Jug. His
own immediate store of whiskey
was quite exhausted, and lie Bour-
don kept the place in which his
own small stock of brandy was
secured profound secret. These
glimmerings of returning intellect
and Of reviving principles, are by
no means unusual with the sot.
thus proving that $50 long as
there is life there is hope" for
the moral, as well as for the phys
zeal being. What was a little re-
markabie, Gersom grew less vul-
gar even in his dialect, as he grew
more sober. showing that in all
respects he was becoming a great
ly improved person.
The men were several hours in
loading the canoe. not only ali
the stores and ammunition, but all
the honey being transferred to it.
The bee-hunter had managed to
conceal his jug OF brandy reduced
by this time to little more than a
quart, within an empty powder
keg, into which he had crammed
a beaverskin or two, that he had
taken. as it might be incidentally
in the course of his rambles.
At length everything was re-
moved and slowed in its proper
place on board the capacious
canoe, and Gershom expected an
on the part of Ben
of his readiness to embark. But
there still remained one duty to
perform. The bee-hunter had killed
buck only the day before the
opening of our narrative, and
shouldering a quarter, he had left
the remainder of the animal sus-
pended from the branches of a
tree near the place where it had
been shot and cleaned. AS vension
might be needed before they could
reach the mouth OF the river,
Ben deemed il advisable that he
and Gershom should go and bring
in the remainder of the carcass.
The men started on this UNDER
taking accordingly, leaving the
canoe about two in the afternoon.
The distance between the spot |
where the deer had been killed
and the chiente was about three