ed it to Ralph. Albert, who was a less experienced hunter than
Ralph, preferred a fowling-piece to the rifle; especially as he had
no expectation of shooting anything but ptarmigan. Powder-horns,
cartridges, and shot were provided; and quite proudly the two friends
started off on their skees, gliding over the hard crust of the snow,
which, as the sun rose higher, was oversown with thousands of glittering
gems. The boys looked like Esquimaux, with their heads bundled up in
scarfs, and nothing visible except their eyes and a few hoary locks of
hair which the frost had silvered.

IV.

"What was that?" cried Albert, startled by a sharp report which
reverberated from the mountains. They had penetrated the forest on the
west side, and ranged over the ice for an hour, in a vain search for
wolves.

"Hush," said Ralph, excitedly; and after a moment of intent listening he
added, "I'll be drawn and quartered if it isn't poachers!"

"How do you know?"

"These woods belong to father, and no one else has any right to hunt in
them. He doesn't mind if a poor man kills a hare or two, or a brace of
ptarmigan; but these chaps are after elk; and if the old gentleman gets
on the scent of elk-hunters, he has no more mercy than Beelzebub."

"How can you know that they are after elk?"

"No man is likely to go to the woods for small game on a day like this.
They think the cold protects them from pursuit and capture."

"What are you going to do about it?"

"I am going to play a trick on them. You know that the sheriff, whose
duty it is to be on the lookout for elk-poachers, would scarcely send
out a posse when the cold is so intense. Elk, you know, are becoming
very scarce, and the law protects them. No man is allowed to shoot more
than one elf a year, and that one on his own property. Now, you and
I will play deputy-sheriffs, and have those poachers securely in the
lock-up before night."

"But suppose they fight?"

"Then we'll fight back."

Ralph was so aglow with joyous excitement at the thought of this
adventure, that Albert had not the heart to throw cold water on his
enthusiasm. Moreover, he was afraid of being thought cowardly by his
friend if he offered objections. The recollection of Midshipman Easy
and his daring pranks flashed through his brain, and he felt an
instant desire to rival the exploits of his favorite hero. If only the
enterprise had been on the sea he would have been twice as happy, for
the land always