“Not so easy,” answered Barringford, but there was a quiet smile on his face. Up came his musket, and on the instant there was a crack, and his second bullet landed directly on top of his first.
“What’s the total score?” was the cry from a dozen throats.
“Total score as follows,” sang out the man at the target. “Barringford 10, Raymond 9, Bauermann 7, and Russell 6. Barringford, Raymond, and Bauermann take the first, second, and third prizes in the order named.”
“Hurrah for Barringford!” cried Dave, and led in the cheering. Then there was a call for a speech, and the old frontiersman was hauled forward and made to mount a flat rock.
“I don’t know what ye want me to say,” he remarked half sheepishly. “I’ve done my best to win them boots, and I guess I won ’em. They’ll keep my feet warm, while Raymond, he kin keep his neck warm with the kerchief, an’ old man Bauermann kin sit by the fire and whittle sticks to his heart’s content. I thank ye for your kindness, and I vote we all thank the cap’n for the prizes an’ the good time——”
“Whoop! Huzza!” cried the crowd. And then somebody added: “All in favor of thankin’ the cap’n will please march up and present arms to him!” And then the crowd caught up their guns and marched past the officer in a long line, each presenting arms as he passed. And thus the shooting match ended very pleasantly.
During the winter Dave and Barringford, and occasionally Raymond, went out in the forest to hunt. They brought in several small deer and two bears, as well as a large quantity of rabbits and not a few wild birds. Others went fishing through holes in the ice, but Dave declared that he had had enough of such sport.
Only once came a letter from home. This was around New Year’s, and brought the information that all were doing well, excepting Rodney, who was worse and who must now submit to another operation by the surgeon. The folks had heard from Henry and were glad to learn that he had escaped from the French. In the letter Mr. James Morris said he was sorry to hear that Jean Bevoir had gotten away.
“He will surely try to make more trouble for us,” he wrote. “You must beware of him. He is worse than a snake in the grass.”
But Dave was more disturbed about Rodney than he was just then about Jean Bevoir.