stump some hundred yards from the shanty. On sunny mornings it used to
lie basking on the stump, but eternal vigilance is the price of every
good thing in the woods. The Woodchuck was always alert and Thor tried
in vain to shoot or even to trap him.

"Hyar," said Corney one morning, "time we had some fresh meat." He took
down his rifle, an old-fashioned brass-mounted small-bore, and loading
with care that showed the true rifleman, he steadied the weapon against
the door-jamb and fired. The Woodchuck fell backward and lay still.
Thor raced to the place and returned in triumph with the animal,
shouting: "Plumb through the head--one hundred and twenty yards."

Corney controlled the gratified smile that wrestled with the corners of
his mouth, but his bright eyes shone a trifle brighter for the moment.

It was no mere killing for killing's sake, for the Woodchuck was
spreading a belt of destruction in the crop around his den. Its flesh
supplied the family with more than one good meal and Corney showed Thor
how to use the skin. First the pelt was wrapped in hardwood ashes for
twenty-four hours. This brought the hair off. Then the skin was soaked
for three days in soft soap and worked by hand, as it dried, till it
came out a white strong leather.

Thor's wanderings extended farther in search of the things which always
came as surprises however much he was looking for them. Many days were
blanks and others would be crowded with incidents, for unexpectedness
is above all the peculiar feature of hunting, and its lasting charm.
One day he had gone far beyond the ridge in a new direction and passed
through an open glade where lay the broken trunk of a huge basswood.
The size impressed it on his memory. He swung past the glade to make
for the lake, a mile to the west, and twenty minutes later he started
back as his eye rested on a huge black animal in the crotch of a
hemlock, some thirty feet from the ground. A Bear! At last, this was
the test of nerve he had half expected all summer; had been wondering
how that mystery "himself" would act under this very trial. He stood
still; his right hand dived into his pocket and, bringing out three or
four buckshot, which he carried for emergency, he dropped them on top
of the birdshot already in the gun, then rammed a wad to hold them down.

The Bear had not moved and the boy could not see its head, but now he
studied it carefully. It was not such a large one--no, it was a small
one, ye