Sentence:  “This thicket was a singular, an exceedingly singular one. It was unusually dense. Within its naturally walled enclosure were three extraordinary stones, forming a seat with a back and footstool.[...] , whose boys were in the habit of closely examining the shrubberies about them in search of the bark of the sassafras. Would it be a rash <WSD>wager</WSD> – a <WSD>wager</WSD> of one thousand to one – that a day never passed over the heads of these boys without finding at least one of them ensconced in the umbrageous hall, and enthroned upon its natural throne? Those who would hesitate at such a <WSD>wager</WSD>, have either never been boys themselves, or have forgotten the boyish nature." 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  Something deposited, laid, or hazarded on the event of a contest or an unsettled question; a bet; a stake; a pledge.