"Now, another thing," added Jack. "You, Doctor, have had less experience than the rest of us, in this business, and perhaps you'd best practice on the easier part of it first. I propose that instead of cutting down trees you devote yourself to-day to making cordwood out of the unused parts of the trees we cut to build our house with. There are several cords of good wood in them. You can cut the branches into round wood and split the rest with the mauls and wedges and gluts." A glut is a big wooden wedge used to supplement the work of the axe and the iron wedge. The Doctor assented readily—the more because he had learned, during his sojourn in Virginia how to cut and split wood with very tolerable skill, but had never yet practiced the art of felling trees.
With brisk axes expertly wielded by strong arms, the party had goodly piles of ties and timbers and cordwood ready for the chute before noon, and as they were not to begin sending it down the hill until three o'clock the next day, they had every prospect of making a good showing with their two days' work.
CHAPTER XI
An Armed Negotiation
Just before noon, Tom carefully removed all the bones and meat fragments from his soup kettle. Then he mixed up some corn meal dumplings and dropped them into the kettle, after the southern culinary fashion. These would answer as a sufficient substitute for bread, and as for meat, the company was to dine that day on the cold roast wild boar.
Just as Tom dropped the last of the dumplings into the kettle, he looked out through the half-open door and saw an ugly looking mountaineer creeping stealthily, and with his rifle in hand, up over the little cliff to the east of Camp Venture. His attention was evidently riveted upon the chopping boys, the scene of whose labors lay to the northwest of the house. Apparently, the man supposed the hut to be empty and intended to pass to the south of it, using it as a secure cover for his approach to the boys chopping.
Tom was a person distinctly quick of apprehension. In an instant, he saw what the man's plans were, and in another instant he had seized and cocked the Doctor's repeating rifle, which had fortunately been left in the hut.
As the mountaineer stealthily crept by the cabin, Tom "drew a bead" on him at not more than six paces distant, and called out:
"Lay down your gun instantly, or I'll shoot."