. If Lil Artha had taken a shot at them and secured one or more, there might hav

would be as highly favored as on the preceding night; but then, as no storm threatened, this was not absolutely necessary. He anticipated that t

f marsh," suggested Lil Artha, as he made an extr

e that about ten minut

e letters he had from his uncle up here the old gentleman told of getting some of his best views when lying out in a marsh, and wa

hinting at, Lil Artha. You've go

admitted th

stamping grounds, there's a pretty good chance the cabin can't be a great ways off?

holler that'd reach hi

result, though I'd rather wait till dark before do

his for a minute before h

t run foul of some sort of game that woul

ep in most places, we might manage to run across

same lines as Elmer, if one could judge from

skrats, don'

they say; and it looks like that, or go hungry to-night, becau

ce is a hard thing to conquer; and habit backed by imagination is responsible for the c

r la

most anything to be had in the woods or swamps up north. T

o mighty fond of baked dog

ysters or clams on the half shell. Now, I've always said that the first man who ever gulped down a live oyster had more nerve even than Napoleon. Then, if you only travel around,

ou won't hear me draw the line even at baked dog-or crow. Yes, I've heard of people who say they've made a meal off crow, and liked it. Why,

m; "we'll make up our minds about stopping close by here, and on the border of the marsh. While George and Toby are fixing camp, and beginning to gather wood, the two of us ca

ing pretty low over there in the west we'd b

limpse what I mean by looking just past that birch that is bent nearly double with the snow. A dead tree lies on the

case it got to blowing great guns before morning, which I don't think will hap

s tired as can be, and will be gla

ge, who were plodding along with many a sigh and grunt; for their packs we

"we're meaning to camp right ahead here. Plenty o

sked Toby, beseechingly. "Is there a good grocery around the corner, and d

hed the tall scout, "and that's what me'nd Elmer

d here's hoping you run up against the best of success. A broiled partridge,

s dry as tinder, and had to be cooked with slices of bacon to make it taste just right. But consi

several of the marsh dwellers with the unenviable name, they might skin them, and let their chums imagine that they were eating squirrel or rabbit or something like that. Afterwards, wh

ad selected, and every one had a chance to survey the sit

one better if you'd

the tired condition of the boys had something to do with this endorsement on their part

camp fire was to be made. It was a pine, and beneath it the ground seemed to be

" asked the tall scout, as he nervously handled

us, for we know how camp ought to be made. All we ask i

it is, if only you cut

say, "that lets us out, and we can fetch home the musquash wi

ast words George flung after the

as it stands without our getting separated. If you don't just know where the camp is located give three yells, or fi

the frozen marsh they kept

t house when I see it,

tract, and spy a number of what look like irregular mounds, or heaps of dead rushes, you can make up your mind muskrats live there. If it's a lake or a stream they can be found in among the rocks too, but not as a rule, because there they are apt to run up against the otter, weasel

s and other refuse, after which Elmer tore it to pieces, while Lil Ar

isappointment, however,

cout, lowering his gun, which he had be

on after I started tearing the thing down," replied Elm

he disappointed one, to whom even musquash stew was beginning to appeal more a

cies the old Indian dish once in a while. But let's be moving along. The mill will never grind again with the wat

le to say where the camp lay. Lil Artha knew he could depend on his chum in that respect, and hence he did not concern himself in the slightest degree about such a thing as becoming bewild

me distance and found nothing at all. "We ought to be able to keep in sight of each other ea

e incident was going to prove; "I'll swing off to the right here, and follow this swale, while you keep straight o

n about to give that unpleasant name to the furry little denizen of the marsh they were seeking so eagerly, so

fancied that Lil Artha was about right when he declared it looked as th

ng all the drifts whenever he could, and straining his eyes for a sight of w

to learn where his chum might be, when without warning there came two reports in

en, and was in a fever of suspense, fearing Lil Artha might have hurt himself, until rounding the obs

deer, as sure as smoke, and I fired point-blank at him both times; but hang the luck, I must have mis