The Wolf Point herald. (Wolf Point, Mont.) 1913-1940, 1923-11-15
derfng fringe of pebbles and white
shells. draw slowly by

N SN PNCDhO
shells, draw slowly by.
The fishermen landed. The live box
was hitched to a stake as before, the
half-reluctant preacher left to hold
the brazil stick, while the others rowed
out and around the fifty yards or
more of murky water that lay between
the point and the shore.
Hardly had the circuit been com
pleted when it began to be apparent
that Counterman's judgment would be
amply justified.
The final haul proved to be much
were dropped into the live box, the
others tossed back into the river, and
the fishermen set about preparing to
return to the village. The brazil sticks
were united. the seine rolled up, and
the woodsman walked up the bar for
the boat.
He stopped over the craft, possibly
recalling the circumstance Of the six
gun concealed In the frock coat; laid
his hand to the bow to push 1t off !;
Strengthened after a moment, walked
some distance farther up the bar and
stood gazing intently toward the mar
row upper end Of the arm Of water
where 1t disappeared under the over-
tapping branches Of trees and tangled
vines. Shrugged away under the tangle,
practically invisible, except from that
one point, lay a small houseboat.
A trifing circumstance enough
houseboats were common on the Wa
bash-but why there7 The place was
dark and dank, the bank Doggy, and
there was no spring short Of Alpine
island. The woodsman turned and
motioned to his companions.
They had been watching him and at
his sign came trooping up the bar
the preacher tagged and tagging be-
midland gathered around him. Fol
lowing the direction of his finger, they
peered in under the overlapping trees.
Counterman grinned around at the
others after a moment and jerked his
thumb back toward the skiff.
y pOolD we IOW uD dn pay ILL q
visit? I'd like t see a man with SIGH
an eye FIR a campin' place."
Uncle Nick tossed up his chin, grunt-
ed, and led the way down the bar to
where he had beached the boat.
The preacher appeared to be consid-
erably vexed at the further %prolonga-
ton Of a trip that was growing more
and more irksome to him. It might
almost have been imagined that a
frown ruffled the studious primness of
his brow. But as the skiff glided up
the narrowing arm of dead water, he
appeared to get himself in hand again.
The frown disappeared and his air be-
came that of a man only mildly inter
ested in what went on about him.
There is little fOrmality among men
of the river and the woods-a fine
enough delicacy. though. when big mo-
ments come. They brought the bow
of the skiff up under the stern of the
secluded little craft and climbed
aboard.
There was both a fore and an aft
tOOi w lnC lihg 1dDiA lldl OCCuplCu
the whole ~mid-section of the deck, but
windows on either side. Both doors
were heavily padlocked-a further
proof of the owners exclusiveness.
On the dusty boards there were a num-
Der of footprints. some of them-curi-
ously enough-made by a boot that
must have been stylish. even dainty.
Uncle Nick leaned upon the railing
of the forward deck and prodded his
pipe, while the one-eyed fisherman
gnawed himself a fresh chew from a
sweaty plug that he clawed up out of
his overalls pocket, the two of them
generalizing ON the circumstance of
boot tracks, no windows and
doors.
The preacher had Joined in the dis
ussion and was just telling them, In
is h%alf-bored drawl, that it might be
naturalist taking unusual pains
o preserve his specimens, when Jack
yarhope, still standing in the skiff
holding it to the stern Of the house
oat, picked up one of the shiny
from the preachers stack Of
in the bow, and, hidden from
he others by the cabin, pressed he
eel of it down hard beside n of the
eel-prints on the dusty after-deck.
The two prints conceded perfectly.