as a lean-to where Leeson kept his horses, two in
number. There was room for more animals, so the beasts ridden by our
friends were easily accommodated.

Night had fallen by the time the horses had been rubbed down and fed and
the boys had finished their evening repast, and it was dark when they
gathered around the doorstep to rest. Hank Leeson sat on a
chopping-block, cleaning his rifle and smoking at the same time, and as
the three rested Joe told of his adventure in the cave, and Darry took
up the tale of the bear.

"You had a lucky escape, lad," said the trapper. "A lucky escape, an' no
error. Like as not them desperadoes would have killed ye, had they
caught ye."

"I've been thinking--do you imagine they'll come here to-night?" asked
Darry.

Hank Leeson shook his head.

"Don't allow as they will. About a year ago I gave thet Fetter fair
warnin' if he showed his face about my cabin I'd plug him full o' holes,
an' I sent Gilroy the same message. They know me, an' know I won't stand
any nonsense. They'll be likely to give me a wide berth. They know I
aint got much worth stealin'."

"Then we ought to be safe until the soldiers get the news."

"Reckon you will be, lad," answered the trapper.

He was very much of a quaint character, and for two hours the boys sat
up, listening to his tales of encounters with wild animals, desperadoes,
and Indians.

"I've had my own little fun with b'ars," he said. "Got in a tree onct,
and a b'ar kept me there fer a whole day. I had wounded him in the leg,
and in running over a brook I dropped my gun."

"How did you get away?" asked Darry.

"I didn't know what to do fust. The b'ar had me foul, and kept right at
the bottom of the tree all the time. With his wounded leg he couldn't
come up, and I didn't dare to go down, and there we was--a-lookin' at
each other, he a-growlin' and I a-sayin' all kind o' unpleasant things
about him."

"Didn't you have a pistol?"

"No, all I had with me at the time was a powder-horn, a matchbox, and my
pocket-knife. What to do I didn't know, and I was a-thinkin' I'd be
starved out, when a thought struck me to blow him up with powder."

"Blow him up!" cried both boys.

"Thet's wot, lads--blow him up. I had a handkerchief, ye see, an' into
this I dumped 'bout half my powder, an' into the powder I put three
matches, with the ends pointing out. Then I tied powder an' matches into
a hard lump and watched my chance. There was a flat rock near the