The Filer record. (Filer, Idaho) 1919-1930, 1924-02-14
Of Tale
of the
Hatwoods

the QTdBOnS jaws tneu IrOWnen 10
ward the narrow valleys head wher'
the weather-biackened roof Of I
squalid cabin could barely be seel
through the trees. A slow sternnen
crawled into his eyes; he dropped thu
butt OF the shotgun to the leaves
leaned upon 1t and stood staring
down at the road.
Gradually, as he stared. there grew
upon him the consciousness of an out
line of a single footprint at the other
side Of the road-detached, alone, ap-
parently with no mark Of any kind
leading either TO Il or from It. The
singular fact Of its seemingly perfect
Isolation slowly reached him, and won
place among the troop OF thoughts
that gripped him.
He studied 1t closely a moment,
grunted and then grinned.
Uncle Nick" he muttered. Heel
deepest-he's Jumped-where fromT'
He glanced at the other side of the
road where the take-ofr must have
been to land leap just there and
after a short search found where the
old mans boot had scraped the moss
little In making the spring.
admin fr that slab Of sandstone"
he chuckled. his eyes losing a mite of
their hardness, fell a bit shy and
landed in the soft dlrt-mighty good
jump, at that, f'r a man with eighty
odd years on is back"
GfnnnfnO hn Ig1
footprint, he examined II with closest
attention. trying at the same time to
call up all the lore of the trail that
the old ranger had taken such pride
In teaching him-the wise and won
derful ways of woodcraft that he had
until, next to Uncle Nick himself, he
was known to be the most skillful
woodsman along the Wabash. AS
he looked, grass stem that had
been bent down and slightly hung In
the soil suddenly loosed and straight
ened.
Hot trail, OF scoutmaster." he NUT
tered. In the half spoken soliloquy that
nature sometimes teaches her favor
ties. "And there y'u go, pickin' y'ur
steps SOS T. hit the hard spots and
miss the soft ones"
A sudden thoughtfulness crossed his
face. II wonder why y'u're so p'tIc'-
lar Z hide y'ur trail. though-there
amt no Pottawattomies Z find IL no
more. Mebbe the woods jlst filed y'u
8 full this wonderful morning, like
they have me, that y'u can't help
playin' a while at the OIL war game Of
the trail. Well, I'll play with y'u-
and I'll run y'u down bfore the
shadow of the bluffs climbs out Of the
crick."
After searching glance In every
direction. so keen and critical that II
appeared to handle with minuteness
every bush and tree within range of
his eye, and a further moment spent
In sounding the woods for any false
note they might carry, he threw the
shotgun into the hollow Of his well
arm and took up the trail
II led across the two or three rods
OF broken ground between the road
and the little stream, which. at that
point. sparkled along over a shallow
rifle. Once, as his old friend had |
sprung from stone to stone In cross
Ing. his boot had slipped and gone
into the water. After that every al
ternate stone on which he had /
stepped. was still damp from the wet
boot.
Jack had followed to a point well
within sight OF Loge Belden's cabin
when. barely hundred yards ahead.
he caught a glimpse OF a man stealing
from cover TO cover-just a fash as
he fitted from one hazel thicket to
another. but that was enough. That
tall form. erect as an Indian. those
ron-gray locks. falling loosely from
under the quaint old cap OF hand
dressed coonskin. could belong to out
,ne man In the world-Uncie Nick.
Jack instantly darted to cover and
,egan stalking the old ranger. Barely
fifty yards separated them when. as
he peeped from behind an oak. he saw
he old man steal out from a dense
AAAtACA VI NA1 0aAt atAt-r
IN open space and throw himself nat
'ehind a decaying log.
Crawling up behind huge sugar
maple that stood barely more than q
I'd from the log. Jack rose to his feet.
grin spreading over his face as he
bought Of the surprise he was about
o spring upon his old friend
He was just bracing himself for the
ush when a hand fell upon hts shoui-
Ter. and whlrling with sudden startle-
nent. he found himself looking with
polish vacancy into the quizzicaIly
wtnkling eyes of-Uncle Nick.
AT sight Of his young friends be
riidered face the shoulders OF the old
Iunter shook with merriment. though
ot sound passed his llps-the silent
suxhter that long years In the woods
Then they were dangerous. had taught
I'm.
-, mr. f~N~-r>xrfrna