dday. I reached the lake above the Narrows and went back
to the path. I didn't care m-much if I were caught or not. I don't want
to eat another b-berry in my life. Several times I saw boats on the lake
and tried to get their attention, but c-couldn't. D-Didn't I feel happy
when I saw you coming toward me! And when I knew who it was, I felt as
if I were at home again m-milking the cows or up on old B-Bull Meadow
shooting fifty-two pigeons at a clip. Have you heard anything from Davy
Fiske?"
[Sidenote: NEWS FROM WEAVER DAVID]
"Well, yes; 'Bijah here came out late, and he says Davy has been telling
him some story about killing a bear in Grimes's cornfield up on the
Billerica road."
"That must have b-been before we left and we didn't hear anything about
it. How was it, 'Bijah?"
"I met Davy early this spring over in the woods by Listening Hill, and
he told me about hunting a bear in Bill Grimes's young corn, which was
about three feet high. He and Bill chased the bear; the bear ran off,
climbed over a stone wall, and got stuck in a snowdrift, and they came
up and killed him."
"That's D-Davy all over. He's m-mighty careless about those hunting
yarns of his. Pretty soon the bears will be wearing rackets in the
summer to k-keep out of his way. And now, boys, if you don't mind, I'll
stretch out in the bottom of the boat and get a little nap. I haven't
had a good sleep I don't know when, and the f-food and the warm sun make
me terrible sleepy."
Amos lay down, and we rowed till we reached the shore.
CHAPTER XIII
BEN COMEE HEAP BIG PALEFACE--TRAPPING BOB-CATS IN PRIMEVAL WOODS
When we arrived at camp we had something to eat. Rogers came to us and
questioned Amos, first as to the number of troops at Fort Ticonderoga,
and how they were arranged, and afterward he inquired about his
adventures. When Amos told how Morin rushed in and freed Major Putnam,
Rogers said:--
"Morin? I know him well. I scalped him and carved my name on his breast
with my knife."
"Well, I wished you h-hadn't. Then he m-might have given us something to
eat."
Rogers turned and went off.
"Ugh! I don't like that man. You remember the time Lord Howe was
k-killed. Well, that day I saw Rogers hit a poor wounded Frenchman on
the head with his hatchet. It was the meanest thing I ever saw done by a
white man, and I can't abide him."
"No, he's cruel and hard as nails. I wish John Stark was the commander
of the Rangers. He has all R
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