Freckles

ouble Bravely and Opens t

wagon. He drove to the west entrance of the swamp, set the box on a stump that Freckles had select

ne into the grain of it, but it looks as if it might be a rare ane. Anyhow, the nailin

n oak?" ask

ight be ane of thae fine-grained white

rove a staple, screwed on a latch, and gave Freckles a small padlock-so that he might fasten in his tre

easure, and it warmed his heart with pure joy. If the interior of the box already had

udy,' as McLean says. All we're, needing now is a coat of paint to make a cupboard that would

good to me; but if you have any jobs at the cabin that I could do for

think I could take a half-day off in the best hauling season and g

e and bright with happiness. "It's so good of him. How I

e told that ye are doing every day a thing that pleases the Boss as much as anything ye could do. Ye're being un

ied the happy bo

days he cautioned me na to tell ye, but now he wadna care. D'ye ken, Freckles

his breath and s

out of cheaper wood and cover it with the maple-veneer, they call it. When it's all done and polished ye never saw onythin' grander. Gang into a retail shop the next time ye are in town and see some. By sawin' it thin that way they get finish for thousands of dollars' worth of furniture from a single tree. If ye dinna wa

Freckles' face and he bl

says: 'I'll give a thousand dollars to ony man that will show me a fresh stump when we reach the Limberlost,'

s. "And now will I be walking double time to keep so

w ye all confidence and honor. He's gone and set a high price for some dirty whelp to ruin ye. I was just tryin' to sho

company?" sweetly

ad, for that's about the amount of it, an' I'd nae right to tell ye. We've both do

me work when double watching is needed. Thank you more than I can say for putting me on to it. What you've told me may be the saving of me. I won't stop for din

start on that seven-mile tramp with na bite

dest heads and the softest hearts of any

d in gratifie

the line, whistling cheerily, for he had an

ersation verbatim, ending: "And nae matter what happens now or ever, dinna ye dare

could shake my faith in

ir coming he had seen them, either hanging as small, black clouds above the swamp or bobbing over logs and trees with their queer, tilting walk. Whenever he could spare time, he entered the swamp and tried

y the big black chicken hung sentinel above the swamp. His mate did not reappear in the following days, and Freckles g

e," she said. "She's laid, and is setting, ye silly! Watch him and mark whaur

. He searched for this nest instead of collecting subjects for his case. He found the pair the middle of one forenoon on the elm where he had watched their love-making. The big black chicken was feeding his mate; so it was proved that they were

er the swale than they usually ventured, and from their wild gestures he knew that somethi

his club and dinner pail, and when they reached Mrs. Duncan they found her at

s all ready on the table. Ance ye begin on this, ye'll no be willin' to tak' your no

wallowed a few bites, then came so eagerly that Mrs. Duncan yielded, althou

so one containing Freckles' bullfrog, true to life. Besides these were a butterfly-net, a naturalist's tin specimen-box, a bottle of

reasure, Freckles shouted: "Wi

ied: "Weel, I

se sprawl and cut his foot on the axe with which his mother had prized up the box-lid. That sobered them, they carried the

rd book was in the box. He walked the line and tested each section scrupulously, watching every foot of the trail, for he was determined not to slight his work; but if ever a boy "made haste slowly" in a hurry, it was Freckles

low, and dogwood. Below there filled in a solid mass of pale pink sheep-laurel, and yellow St. John's wort, while the amber threads of the dodder interlaced everywhere. At one side the swamp came close, here cattails grew i

open vista stretched away until lost in the dim recesses of the swamp. A little trimming of underbush, rolling of dead logs, levelling of floor and carpetin

ith every delicate, lacy vine and fern he could transplant successfully. The body of the bed was a riot of color. Here he set growing dainty blue-eyed-Marys and blue-eyed grass side by side. He planted harebells; violets, blue, white, and yellow; wild geranium, cardinal-flower, columbine, pink snake's mouth, butt

several of the trees, leveled the floor, and thickly carpeted it with rank, heavy, woolly-dog moss. Around the case he planted wild clematis, bittersweet, and wild-grapevines, and trained them over it until it was almost covered. Every da

e. He planted a new specimen he had found close the trail, and, bringing his old scrap-bucket from the

h of satisfaction turned to the section headed. "V." Past "veery" and "vireo" he we

California vul

de the Rockies

turkey-

on turkeys. McLean said chic

lture of t

re arrived

lowed the line, and

alled Jim Crow. Nearest equivalent

er to learn them corki

ean species. Sometimes stray north

them right here in Indiana so like these pictures I can ju

-blue e

ot to be se

ut shaped like a hen's, heavil

, I suppo

ow logs or

n looking close the ground all this time. Now it's all to do over, and

ch, and went to the line. He sat on a log, ate at dinner-time and drank his last drop of water. The heat of June was growing intense. Even o

s nor Duncan's-and there never had been others. Freckles' heart leaped hotly. He ran a quick hand over his belt to feel if his revolver and hatchet were there, caught up his cudgel and laid it across his knees-then sat quietly, waiti

is way, so bl

rry Chris

iculousness of it until he broke into

ssner had been his bunk-mate the night he came down the corduroy. He knew him as well as any of McLean's men. This was no tim

mething very like a breath of relief. "We been hearing down at the camp y

les, "if he's a stranger, but

McLean!" s

udgel until his knuckl

ing so?" he inquired wi

hing, unless maybe that other slobbering old Scotchman, Duncan. Grinding the lives out of us! Working

o play through the g

on that gang is strong and hilthy, paid all he earns, and treated with the courtesy of a gent

t, but he saw he was on the wr

od big pile of money, without ev

cago and cornered wheat, and are you offering me

r came

ve you a pointer, I can put you on to making a coo

es dre

in the Limberlost save the birds and the beasts, unless some of your

end of mine. If you want to hear sense and act with reason, he can see you later, but i

it," said Freckles. But he heard, with

avin' away at a measly little thirty dollars a month, and here is a chance

it?" inquired Freckles. "Or am I just to

know a thing. You name a morning when you will walk up the west side of the swamp and then turn round and

o come aisy as breathing; and to some, wringin' the last drop of their heart's blood couldn't force thim! I'm not the man that goes into a scheme like that with the blindfold

hat it was. If you will stay on this side of the trail just one day we can have it cut, loaded, and ready to drive out at night. Next morning you can find it, report, and be the busiest man in the search for us. We know where to fix it all safe and easy. Then McLean has a bet up with a couple of the gang that there can't be a raw stump found in the Limberlost. T

satisfied. "Is th

that in a week. My friend knows a dozen others we could get out in a few days, and all you'd have to do would be to keep out of si

urred like

awful high. Me to be getting five hundred for such a simple little thing as that. You're trating me most royal indade! It's away beyond all I'd be expecting. Sivinteen cints would be a big p

unslung the specimen-box and laid it inside with his hatchet and

nswer," he sai

mmanding as an outraged general. "Anything

nishment he felt. "Why,

"I'm after resarvin' me pet name for the use of me friends! You may

you mean?" spl

ll out of you, and may the Holy Vargin stay me before I leave you her

palpable an excuse to force a discharge that Duncan mo

e at top speed. When Mrs. Duncan told him that a man answering Wessner's description had gone down the west side of the swamp close noon, he left the mare in her charge and followed on foot. When he heard

dy to spring; but as Freckles' voice reached him he held hims

e down the corduroy like a dirty, friendless tramp, and the Boss was for taking me up, washing, clothing, and feeding me, and giving me a home full of love and tinderness, and a master to look to, and good, well-earned money in the bank. He's trusting me his heartful, and here comes you, you spotted toad of the big road, and insults me, as is an honest Irish gin

bling, "But I don't want

. "Well, you ain't resembling me none, for I'm itch

at sometimes landed and sent Freckles reeling, and sometimes missed, while he went plunging into the swale with the impetus of them. Freckles could not strike with half Wessner's force, but he could land three blows to the Dutchman's one. It was here that the boy's days of alert watching on the line, the perpetual swinging of t

be whistling the hornpipe for

Wessner's face, and he w

g, forgot the laws of a gentleman's game and drove the toe of his heavy wading-boot in Wessner's middle until he doubled and fell heavily. In a flash Freckles was on him.

er, and don't be afraid of hurting me. I'll let you throw in an extra hand and lick you to me comp

ed a battlefield, for his clothing was in ri

got enough,

I'd stale from his very pockets. Now will you be standing up and taking your medicine like a man, or getting it poured

lay limp and quiet and Freckles had no strength left to lift an arm. Then he arose and stepped back, gasp

ment, burst into shivering sobs, while the tears washed tiny rivulets through the blood and muck. Freckles stepped back, glaring at Wessner, but suddenly the scowl of anger and the ugly disfiguring red faded from the boy's face. He dabbed at a

k it upright in the muck, and marched on tiptoe to Wessner, mechanically, as a puppet worked by

"be careful, Freddy; there'

back pocket, Freckles tenderly

back tomorrow, if you ain't through yet, and we'll repate the perfarmance. Don't be staring at me so wild like! I would eat you, but I can't afford it. Me ear

Wessner, tottering and reeling, as a thoroughly drunken man, came

nd, shook back his thick hair bonnily, and stepping into the trail, followed Wessner. Because Freckles was Irish, it was impossi

Dutch. It wa

t was the Iris

mu

utch. It was

hat you following me for? What

for the ingratitude of a beast? And me troubling mesi

ny minute, and the little mare's so wheedlesome that if she'd come on to you in your prisint state all of a sudden, she'd stop

rful oath, while Frec

s Freddy," he demanded sternly, "do you want me to soap out your mouth? You don't seem to be realizing it, but if you was to buck into Mr. McLean in your prisint state, w

der his grime and broke

eckles plaintively. "Going without even a 'thank you,' right in th

f cloth. He dipped it into the water, and sitting on a bench, he wiped the blood and grime from his face, while his breath sucked between his clenched teeth. He was shivering with pain and excitement in spite of himself. He unbuttoned the band of his right sleeve, and turning it back, exposed the blue-line

ckles," said M

down his sleeve an

"You'll surely be belavin

ed a pocket-case that he carried as regularly as his revolver and w

ty of the punishment the boy had borne set the Boss shuddering. Then he closed the case, shoved it into his pocket, and sat beside Freckles. All the indescribable beauty of the place was stron

cLean gotten there and how long had he been there? Freckles did not dare ask. At last he arose, and going to

y orders, si

Turn over that apparatus to me and go straight home. Soak yourself in

to me feet to start, and I was on time, when up came a gintleman, and we got into a little heated argument. It's either settled, or it's just begun,

the line! I doubt if you can reach Duncan's. Don't you know

prisint, a minute ago. I'm all right now. Riding-boots are far t

les returned to consciousness, McLean ran to the cabin to tell Mrs. Duncan to have a hot bath ready, and to bring Nellie. That worthy woma

poured on hot water until he squirmed. They soaked and massaged him. Then they drew off the hot water and closed his pores with cold. Lastly they stretched him on

"the tree! Oh, do be l

r him. "Which t

ged that you nailed it yourself, sir. You'll know it by the bark having been laid open to t

d purple with bruises. His left arm, with the hand battered almost out of shape, stretched beside him, and the right, with no hand at all, lay ac

s forehead. Freckles stirred at his touch, and whispered as softly as the swallows under the eave

tty devil," mu

the minute he came home. Following the trail to the line and back to the scent of the fight, the Boss entered F

e soul of a poet. The Boss stepped carefully over the velvet carpet to touch the walls of crisp verdure with gentle fi

had he transplanted such ferns? As McLe

ed its altar? What veriest work of God was in these mighty living pillars and the arched dome of green! How similar to stained cathedral windows were the long openings between the trees, filled with rifts of blue, rays of gold, and the shifting emerald of leaves! Where could be

nesty, courage, and faithfulness. Here was evidence of a heart aching for beauty, art, companionship,

e fight, and they laughed until they cried. Then

w the boy is in

ugh of the gang to take it out at once. That will insure peace for a time, at least, and I am hoping that in a month more the whole gang may be moved here. It soon will be fall, and then, if he will go, I intend to se

ye will make good your plans for Freckles, though I'd as soon see ony b

ened Freckles next morning, he sprang up and was soon following them. He was so sore and stiff that every movement was torture at first, but he grew

o go, Duncan said: "There's a big hollow tree somewhere mighty close here that I've been wanting for a watering-trough for my stock; the one I have is so small. The Portland company cut this for elm bu

the log, detailing men to assist. He told Freckles to ride on a section o

" said McLean. "I have no busine

ng yesterday, from me new book, how they do be nesting in hollow trees, and there ai

If they happen to be there, why tell Duncan he mus

mp. He was a little behind, yet he could see the men. Before he overtook them

he body of the log still resting on the stump. The underbrush was almost impenetrable, but Duncan plunged in and with a crowbar began tapping along the trunk to decide how

s me chickens!" he shouted. "Oh, Duncan, come quic

crashed through poison-vines and underbrush regardless of any danger, an

e chicken, and there's another egg. I can see it plain, and oh, the fun

inking little bird to the light in a leaf-lined hat. The men found it sufficiently wonderful to satisfy even Freckle

ouched until Freckles' chaukies have finished with it. We might as weel gang. Better pu

h the baby, but I was fearing to touch it. It's shaped like a hen's egg, and it's big as a turkey's, and the beautifulest blue-just splattered with big brown spl

bout every nest he finds. He helps her all he can to take them, and then she gives him a picture. Jim's so proud of what he has he keeps them in the Bible. He shows them to everybody that comes, and brags about how he helped. If you're smart, you'll send for her and she'll com

e eve

finding the tree, even if Freckles ain't here to show her. Jim says her work is a credit to the State she lives in, and any man is a measly creature who isn't willing to help her all he can. My old daddy used to say that all there was to religion was doing to the other fell

touched

rough with

t the birds. She's that plum careful of them that Jim's wife says she has Jim a standin' like a big fool holding an ombrelly over them when they are young and tender until she gets a focus, whatever that is. Ji

to tell her to com

until he came to do his morning chores. When he found that none of his stock was at all thirsty, and saw the water-trough b

"And him so sore it is tearing him to move for

so he did not venture to disturb her. He made the round and reached his study early. He ate his lunch, but did not need to start on the second trip until the middle of the afternoon. He would have long hours to work on his flower bed, improve his study, and learn

und the nest before it got so unbearing hot! I might have missed it altogether. Wouldn't it have been a shame to lose that sight? The cunning little div

e; Freckles ate his dinner and settled f