Boy Trapper

  Produced by Alan Johns and Andrew Sly

  Dave meets Lester Brigham.]

  Boy Trapper Series

  THE

  BOY TRAPPER.

  By HARRY CASTLEMON,

  AUTHOR OF "THE FRANK NELSON SERIES," "THE SPORTSMAN'S CLUB SERIES,""GUNBOAT SERIES," &C.

  PHILADELPHIAHENRY T. COATES & CO.

  FAMOUS CASTLEMON BOOKS.

  Gunboat Series. By Harry Castlemon. 6 vols. 12mo. Frank the Young Naturalist. Frank on a Gunboat. Frank in the Woods. Frank before Vicksburg. Frank on the Lower Mississippi. Frank on the Prairie.

  Rocky Mountain Series. By Harry Castlemon. 3 vols. 12mo. Cloth. Frank among the Rancheros. Frank at Don Carlos' Ranch. Frank in the Mountains.

  Sportsman's Club Series. By Harry Castlemon. 3 vols. 12mo. Cloth. The Sportsman's Club in the Saddle. The Sportsman's Club Afloat. The Sportsman's Club among the Trappers.

  Frank Nelson Series. By Harry Castlemon. 3 vols. 12mo. Cloth. Snowed Up. Frank in the Forecastle. The Boy Traders.

  Boy Trapper Series. By Harry Castlemon. 3 vols. 12mo. Cloth. The Buried Treasure. The Boy Trapper. The Mail-Carrier.

  Roughing It Series. By Harry Castlemon. 3 vols. 12mo. Cloth. George in Camp. George at the Wheel. George at the Fort.

  Rod and Gun Series. By Harry Castlemon. 3 vols. 12mo. Cloth. Don Gordon's Shooting Box. Rod and Gun Club. The Young Wild Fowlers.

  Go-Ahead Series. By Harry Castlemon. 3 vols. 12mo. Cloth. Tom Newcombe. Go-Ahead. No Moss.

  Forest and Stream Series. By Harry Castlemon. 3 vols. 12mo. Cloth. Joe Wayring. Snagged and Sunk. Steel Horse.

  War Series. By Harry Castlemon. 5 vols. 12mo. Cloth. True to his Colors. Rodney the Partisan. Rodney the Overseer. Marcy the Blockade-Runner. Marcy the Refugee.

  Other Volumes in Preparation.

  Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1878, by PORTER &COATES, in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.

  CONTENTS

  I. A GLANCE AT THE PAST II. DAVID'S VISITORS III. AN OFFER OF PARTNERSHIP IV. MORE BAD NEWS V. DAN IS ASTONISHED VI. BRUIN'S ISLAND VII. WHAT HAPPENED THERE VIII. DOGS IN THE MANGER IX. NATURAL HISTORY X. A BEAR HUNT XI. TRAPPING QUAILS XII. WHERE THE POINTER WAS XIII. TEN DOLLARS REWARD XIV. SOME DISCOVERIES XV. BOB'S ASPIRATIONS XVI. DON'S HOUNDS TREE SOMETHING XVII. CONCLUSION

  CHAPTER I.

  A GLANCE AT THE PAST.

  "Don't worry about it, mother. It is nothing we can help."

  "It seems to me that I might have helped it. If I had gone to GeneralGordon when your father first spoke about that barrel with the eightythousand dollars in it, and told him the whole story, things mighthave turned out differently. But in spite of all he said, I did notsuppose that he was in earnest."

  "Neither did I. That any man in his sober senses should think of sucha thing! Why, mother, if there had been so much money buried in thatpotato-patch, the General would have known it, and don't you supposehe would have found it if he'd had to plough the field up ten feetdeep? Of course he would."

  "But just think of the disgrace that has been brought upon us."

  "Father is the only one who has done anything to be ashamed of, andhe made matters worse by running away. If he would come home andattend to his business, no one would say a word to him. The Generaltold me so this morning."

  "I am afraid you couldn't make your father believe it."

  "Perhaps not, but if I knew where to find him I should try."

  It was David Evans who spoke last. He and his mother were talkingover the strange incidents that had happened in the settlement duringthe last few days, and which we have attempted to describe in thepreceding volume of this series. The events were brought about by avery foolish notion which Godfrey Evans, David's father, suddenly gotinto his head.

  During our late war it was the custom of the people living in theSouth to conceal their valuables when they heard of the approach ofthe Union army. They were also careful to take the same precautionsto save their property when it became known that the rebel guerillaswere near at hand; for these worthies were oftentimes but littlebetter than organized bands of robbers, and the people stood as muchin fear of them as they did of the Federals. These valuables,consisting for the most part of money, jewelry and silverware, weresometimes hidden in cellars, in hollow logs in the woods and inbarns; but more frequently they were buried in the ground. The workof hiding them was sometimes performed by the planters themselves, ifthey happened to be at home, but it was generally intrusted to oldand faithful servants in whom their owners had every confidence. Itnot unfrequently happened that these old and faithful servants provedthemselves utterly unworthy of the trust reposed in them. Sometimesthey told the raiding soldiers where the property was concealed, andat others they ran away without telling even their masters where thevaluables were hidden. General Gordon's old servant, Jordan, was oneof this stamp. He went off with the Union forces, who raided thatpart of Mississippi, and before he went he told a rebel soldier,Godfrey Evans, who happened to be at home on a furlough, and who wasskulking in the woods to avoid capture, that he had just buried abarrel containing eighty thousand dollars in gold and silver in hismaster's potato-patch, and that none of the family knew where it was.

  This Godfrey Evans had been well off in the world at one time. He hadproperty to the amount of fifteen thousand dollars; but, like manyothers, he lost it all during the war, and returned home after thesurrender of General Lee to find himself a poor man. His comfortablehouse had been burned over the heads of his wife and children, whowere now living in a rude hut which some kind-hearted neighbors hadhastily erected; his negroes, who had made his money for him, wereall gone; his cattle had been slaughtered by both rebel and Uniontroops, and his mules and horses carried off; his fine drove of hogs,which ran loose in the woods, and upon which he relied to furnish hisyear's supply of bacon, had wandered away and become wild; andGodfrey had nothing but his rifle and his two hands with which tobegin the world anew. But it was hard to go back and begin againwhere he had begun forty years ago. The bare thought of it was enoughto discourage Godfrey, who declared that he wouldn't do it, and madehis words good by becoming a roving vagabond. He spent the most ofhis time at the landing, watching the steamers as they came in, andthe rest in wandering listlessly about the woods, shooting just gameenough to keep him in powder, lead and tobacco. His sole companionand friend was his son Daniel, who, being a chip of the old block,faithfully imitated his father's lazy, useless mode of life. Mrs.Evans and the younger son, David, were the only members of the familywho worked. They never lost an opportunity to turn an honest penny,and there were times when Godfrey and Dan would have gone supperlessto bed if it had not been for these two faithful toilers.

  Godfrey disliked this aimless, joyless existence as much as hedisliked work, and even Dan at times longed for something better.They both wanted to be rich. Godfrey wanted to see his fineplantation, which was now abandoned to briers and cane, cultivated asit used to be; while it was Dan's ambition to have two or threepainted boats in the lake, to have a pointer following at his heels,and to do his shooting with a double-barrel gun that "broke in two inthe middle." He wanted to take his morning's exercise on a spottedpony--a circus horse, he called it; and to wear a broadcloth suit,a Panama hat and patent leather boots, when he went to church onSundays. Don and Bert Gordon had all these aids to happiness, andthey were the jolliest fellows he had ever seen--always laughing,singing or whistling. Dan thought he would be happy too, if he couldonly have so many fine things to call his own, but he could see noway to get them, and that made him angry. He hated Don and Bert soheartily that he could never look at them without wishing that someevil might befall them. He threatened to steal their horses,
shoottheir dogs, sink their boats, and do a host of other desperatethings, believing that in this way he could render the two happybrothers as miserable as he was himself.

  Godfrey and Dan lived in a most unenviable frame of mind for a yearor more, and then the former one day happened to think of the barrelwhich old Jordan had told him was hidden in the potato-patch. Hespoke of it while the family were at dinner, and announced that heand Dan would begin the work of unearthing the BURIED TREASURE thatvery night. If they didn't find it the first time they tried, theywould go the next night; and they would keep on digging until theyobtained possession of it, if they had to dig up the whole state ofMississippi. Dan almost went wild over the news. He and his fatherspent a few minutes in building air-castles, and then Godfrey, whofelt as rich as though he already had the money in his possession,hurried down to the landing, entered the store there and called for aplug of tobacco, which the merchant refused to give him until heshowed that he had twenty-five cents to pay for it.

  Although Dan and his father had great expectations, which theybelieved would very soon be realized, they did not neglect to payattention to small matters, and to pick up any stray dollars thatchanced to fall in their way. David was a famous dog-breaker, and DonGordon had offered him ten dollars to train a pointer for him. Theoffer was made in the presence of Dan and his father, and the formerat once laid his plans to obtain possession of a portion of themoney. While the two were on their way to the landing, where ashooting-match was to be held that afternoon, Dan stopped at GeneralGordon's barn, and having borrowed a shovel, with which to dig up theburied treasure, he went to the house, where he found Bert reading abook. He told him that David had sent him there after five dollars,as he wished to buy a new dress for his mother, and Bert, althoughhe was well aware that, according to the agreement his brother hadmade with David, the money was not to be paid until the pointerwas thoroughly broken for the field, advanced him the amount herequested. Arriving at the landing, Dan got the bill changed fornotes of smaller denomination, and, while he was picking up hismoney, was surprised by his father, who was greatly amazed to see hisson with such a roll of greenbacks in his hand. Knowing that Danwas too lazy to work--too much of a gentleman was the way Godfreyexpressed it--he could not imagine where the money came from, and Danrefused to enlighten him on this point, fearing that if he did hisfather would go straight to Don Gordon and ask for the rest of theten dollars. Godfrey urged and commanded to no purpose, and wasobliged to be satisfied with the loan of a dollar, which he promisedto return with heavy interest as soon as the barrel was found. Hepaid seventy-five cents of it for the privilege of entering as oneof the contestants in the shooting-match, and the rest he used inpurchasing the plug of tobacco for which the grocer had refusedto credit him. He won nothing during the match, while Dan, to hisfather's great disgust, came in for one of the first prizes--a finequarter of beef.

  When the shooting-match was over, the father and son returned to thelittle hovel they called home. Dan at once put the mule into the cartand started back to the landing to bring home his quarter of beef;while Godfrey, by pretending to fall asleep on the bench in front ofthe cabin, was able to carry out a little stratagem that suddenlysuggested itself to him. He knew that Dan was a thrifty lad in spiteof his laziness, and that he believed in laying by something fora rainy day. He was never out of ammunition for his rifle, but healways took care to keep his little stock hidden away, so that hisfather could not find it. By watching him on this particular day,Godfrey was lucky enough to find out where the boy's hiding-placewas. He went to it as soon as Dan drove away in the cart, and foundthere a goodly supply of powder, lead and caps, and also threedollars and twenty-five cents in money; all of which he put into hispocket.

  Dan came back from the landing in due time, and his father, who hadbeen calculating on having a good supper that night, was astonishedto find that the beef had been sold. He was enraged at first, butwhen he learned that Dan had received three dollars and a half forit, he was quieted at once, and a happy thought came into his mind.He sent Dan into the woods to shoot some squirrels for supper, andwhile the boy was gone he went to the hiding-place and put back theammunition and money just as he found them, believing that when Danreturned he would put the three dollars and a half there too. Nor washe mistaken. The boy presently came back with squirrels enough forsupper, and as soon as he thought he could do so without being seenby any one, he went to his storehouse, and having made sure that theproperty he had already hidden there was safe, he added to it the sumhe had received for the quarter of beef, and went away happy. Hisfather was happy too for he had seen the whole operation.

  Godfrey was too tired to dig for the buried treasure that night, soDan went to bed as soon as it was fairly dark. His father waiteduntil he was soundly asleep, and then went to the storehouse and tookout all it contained. Dan's rage when he discovered his loss the nextmorning was something to wonder at. He knew where his property was,and he demanded its immediate return, threatening in case of refusal,to tell General Gordon about the barrel in the potato-field. Thisfrightened Godfrey, who gave up the contents of his pockets, but notuntil he had forced Dan to tell him where he obtained the money hehad seen in his hands at the landing the day before. He wasastonished when he learned that it came from Bert Gordon, and set hiswits at work to conjure up some plan, by which he might obtainpossession of the rest. He went over to the General's at once, andthere learned that Don and Bert had gone down to the landing withtheir father, where they were awaiting the arrival of two cousins,whom they were expecting from the North. Godfrey followed them therewith all haste, sought an interview with Don, and by telling him someplausible story, induced him to advance the other five dollars.Godfrey hoped in this way to get the start of Dan and enjoy hisill-gotten gains all by himself, but Dan was there and saw it all,and his father, alarmed by the look he saw on his face, divided themoney with him. Of course David knew nothing of this. He was savingthose ten dollars for his mother. He did not expect to spend a centof it on himself; and how he first learned of his loss and what wasdone about it, perhaps we shall see as our story progresses.

  The two young gentlemen, Clarence and Marshall Gordon, for whom Donand Bert were waiting, and who landed from the steamer, Emma Deane,that morning, had been sent away from the city by their father, inorder that they might be out of the way of temptation; but, as ithappened, one of them ran directly into it. Clarence, the older, wasanything but a model boy. He was much addicted to ale and cigars, andthought of nothing in the world so much as money. He was aspendthrift, and, like Godfrey Evans, had a great desire to be rich,but he never thought of working and saving in order to gain thewished-for end. This good old-fashioned and safe way was too long andtedious for him, and he was constantly on the lookout for a shortroad to wealth and consequent happiness. Before he had beentwenty-four hours under his uncle's roof, he thought he haddiscovered it, and this was the way it came about:

  Clarence and his brother arrived at the General's house in theforenoon, and before night came, the former wished most heartily thathe had stayed at home. He was lonely and utterly disgusted with thequiet of the country, and the old-fashioned, prosy way his twocousins had of enjoying themselves. Music, horseback-riding, hunting,fishing and visiting made up the round of their amusements, andClarence could see no fun in such things. As soon as it grew dark heslipped out of the house, and leaning over a fence that ran betweenthe barnyard and a potato-patch, lighted a cigar and settled into acomfortable position to enjoy it. He had not been there many minutes,before he was startled by the stealthy approach of two persons, a manand a boy, who stopped a short distance from him and began diggingwith a shovel. Clarence listened to the words which the man utteredfor the encouragement of the boy, who was doing the work, and wasamazed to learn that there was a fortune hidden in that field, andthat these two had come there to dig it up. In his eagerness andexcitement Clarence leaned half way over the fence, puffingvigorously at his cigar all the while. The little round ball of fireglowing
through the darkness caught the eye of the boy, who showed itto his companion, and the two, frightened almost out of their senses,took to their heels, leaving the eavesdropper lost in wonder.

  Clarence was almost overwhelmed by the discovery he had just made. Itwas an opportunity too good to be lost, and he at once resolved thatif there were eighty thousand dollars buried in that field, he musthave a share of the money when it was brought to light. In order tobring this about, he must find out who this man and boy were. He hada very slight cue to guide him, but he followed it up so skillfullythat by noon of the next day he knew as much about the eightythousand dollars as Godfrey did, and had formed a partnership withthat worthy, Dan being dropped as a useless encumbrance. They met,according to agreement, as soon as it grew dark. It happened thatthere was one who witnessed their interview, and heard all thatpassed between them, and that was Don Gordon, who had just returnedfrom the landing, whither he had been to mail a letter to his cousin.Not finding the hostler about when he came back, Don attended to hispony himself, and was about to shut up the barn for the night, whenhe discovered what he supposed to be a thief prowling about. Thelighted end of a cigar glowed through the darkness a moment later,and then Don saw that the prowler was his cousin Clarence. Greatlyamused at his mistake, he was about to make his presence known, whenit occurred to him that since Clarence had taken so much pains to getout of sight of the family, in order that he might enjoy his cigar,perhaps he would not like it if Don caught him in the act; so Donremained in his place of concealment, heard every word that was saidwhen Godfrey came up, saw both of them get over the fence in thepotato-patch, and followed and watched them while they were diggingfor the barrel.

  Now, Don was one of the most inveterate practical jokers in theworld, and the most accomplished one we ever saw. Godfrey hadreceived more than one proof of his skill. He had been tripped upwhen there was no one near him; his hat had been knocked off his headby invisible hands, and he had seen horrid great things with eyes offire staring at him from fence-corners, until he had become fullysatisfied that the General's lane was haunted, and he would go a milearound through the fields before he would pass through it afternightfall. Here was another opportunity to frighten him, and Don knewjust how to do it. Before he went to sleep that night, he had thoughtof something that beat all the other tricks he had heard of far outof sight.