he heavy timber grew; and when, at length, the boys
came up with the dogs, they found them standing at the foot of a large
maple fully ten feet in circumference.

"There!" exclaimed George, "the rascal has succeeded in reaching home.
Good-by, 'coon!"

"Yes," said Frank, leaning on the muzzle of his gun, and wiping the
perspiration from his forehead, "we're minus that 'coon, easily
enough, unless we wait until morning, and cut the tree down."

"Look here, boys," suddenly exclaimed George, who had been holding his
lantern above his head, and examining the sides of the tree; "did you
ever see a tree look like this before?"

As they moved around to the side where George stood, Archie called
out,

"There must be a big nest of 'coons in here; the tree is completely
skinned."

"Yes," said Frank, "we've accidentally stumbled upon a regular
'coon-tree. There must be a big family of them living here. The tree
looks as if some one had taken an ax and cleaned off the bark. But,"
he added, "finding where the 'coons have been and catching them are
two very different things."

"What do you mean?" inquired Archie, "You don't pretend to say that
the 'coons are not in the tree?"

"Certainly I do. I wouldn't be afraid to stake Brave against any
little cur in the village that the 'coon the dogs have just followed
here is the only one in the tree."

"What makes you think so?"

"Why, now is their feeding-time, and all the 'coons in this part of
the woods are in the cornfield. It wouldn't pay to cut down this big
tree for one 'coon; so let's go home and go to bed, and early
to-morrow morning we will come back here and bag our game."

The boys agreed to this, and they whistled to their dogs, and started
through the woods toward home.

The next morning, at the first peep of day, they again set out, and in
half an hour arrived at the 'coon-tree.

The boys knew that they had something to accomplish before they could
secure their game, but they were not the ones to shun hard work. They
had frequently cut down trees for a single 'coon, and they felt
confident that there were at least three of the animals in the tree,
and they were willing to work for them.

Archie and George were armed, as on the preceding night, with axes,
and, after pulling off their coats, they placed themselves on opposite
sides of the tree, and set manfully to work. Harry and Frank stood by,
ready to take their places when they grew tired, and the dogs seate