New-York tribune. [volume], May 04, 1919, Page 7, Image 75

About New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924

Image provided by: Library of Congress, Washington, DC

                
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The Scouts of Silvermine
By GEORGE MITCHELL
FOLLOWING THE TRAIL
AFTER the excitement of the adventure with Biff,
the bear, had subsided and Bait had been praised
for the recapture of the beast, the camp settled
down to a calmer existence. Slim, under the careful at?
tention of the Leather Man, made a rapid recovery. The
wound in his shoulder healod all too quickly to please him,
for Slim was proud of his bandages and the sling in
which he carried his arm, but prouder still of the scar
on his cheek where the bear's claw had left its mark.
"You'll carry that for life," the Leather Man told him, and
Slim grinned his pleasure at the news.
Sign Drills
Of All Sorts
During the next day, in the warm sunshine, the
Leather Man put them through a series of sign drills
taught them much more than they thought existed about
the lan?guage of the woods. He taught them Indian,
Gypsy, Hobo and Boy Scout signs; showed them how to
write letters in the dirt and on the rocks with twigs and
stones, how to blaze trails, how to signal for help, how
to minister to the wounded and a thousand other things,
simple when understood, but astounding when first heard.
He helped them to make bows and arrows, held shoot?
ing contests?for their amusement only, however, for he
was a great lover of all animal life and would allow no
killing of any kind. Fiah they might catch and eat, but
birds, rabbits and all the email creatures of the woods
he befriended, and they knew it and loved him for it.
"How about the rabbit pie we had the first night we
came here?" asked Freckles, thinking he had caught him.
"Killed by a dog," replied the Leather Man; "and let
me tell you that he'll never kill another." His look of
severity was guarantee for that. It was as good as a
. sermon on charity to see him carry some little wounded
creature in his pocket for miles, mend its twisted leg
and care for it till it was able to be about again.
"I wonder how much of this sign language you'll re?
member," he said to them one evening. "All of it," they
assured him. "I hope so," said he, "for you can never
tell just when you may need it. The woods don't abound
with doctors or surgeons or Red Cross nurses, and there
isn't a drug store within miles of us."
Talking Stones and
Whispering Twigs
After supper the usual round of stories was told about
the fire till early bedtime brought them to a close. The
boys never wearied of his tales of adventure, but they
never questioned his ri?gid rules, and at the first word of
"Time to turn in" they were up and had their blankets
out and were soon fast asleep.
Early the next morning Slim, who generally seemed
to need more sleep than the others, was first up. "First
up" for the boys was a recognized honor. The Leather
Man was always first up. "You see," said he, "I never
sleep with more than one eye closed, so it doesn't take
me so long." Slim lost no time in playfully tapping the
soles of the feet of his slumbering companions. Shame?
facedly, they arose, and tumbling out of their blankets
were soon busy about the camp. .
"Hello!" cried Paul, stopping short in his tracks not
ten feet from where he had baen sleeping. "Hello!"
This brought them all to his side in a flash, and looking
they saw what had attracted his attention. There wa?
a fresh blaze on a tree in front of them. "Here's an?
other," said Slim." "And another," said Freckles.
"What do you make of it?" said Bait. "Somebody's been
by here since last night. I'll swear that wasn't on that
tree yesterday," said Slim. "Let's ask the Leather Man."
"No," said Paul. "I tell you what we'll do, fellows.
Let's follow up this trail and prove to the Leather Man
that we can do it without his help." "Bully," cried the
other?, and without another word they set out.
Here and there they found fresh blaze and bushes bent
back to show the trail, and twice stones had been used, a
small one on top of a larger one to show the trail, and
if a turn to the right or left there was a small stone to
the right or left of the big one.
"It's like reading print," said Slim, "If arithmetic
were as easy I wouldn't have so many headaches."
Plain as the Nose
On Your Face
Soon they came to a small clearing where the earth
was rather soft. Here the trail was laid with pebbles,
two lines forming an angle. Paul stooped to examine
it and a faint smile crossed his face. "Go ahead, you
fellows," said he, rising. "I want to look at this. I'll
catch you in a few minutes." So they forged ahead, but
as soon as they were out of sight Paul cut back for
the cave on a beeline as fast as he could go. There he
found the Leather Man at breakfast. "Do you want to
know how I found out who laid that trail last night?"
"Yes," said the Leather Man, smiling. "By that," said
Paul, pointing to a small triangle the Leather Man had
cut in the sole of his shoe the day before, while cutting
wood. "Good for you, youngster," said the Leather Man,
"and careless of me. Where did you find it?" "Where you
laid the pebbles," said Paul. "Plain as the nose on your
face." "You win," said he, laughing, "and here's your
prize," and he handed him a leather-handled hunting
knife.
At that moment the boys arrived, but when they had
been told of Paul's sharpness of eye and saw his prize
they were as pleased as if they had earned it themselves.