ut he was again disappointed. Nothing was to be seen of the animal,
and only a few drops of blood on the leaves indicated the direction in
which he had gone. This quickly caught Archie's eye, and he began to
follow up the trail, which led toward a creek that flowed close by.
But when he arrived upon its bank he was again at fault--the trail was
lost; and, while he was running up and down the bank, searching for
it, he happened to cast his eye toward the opposite side of the creek,
and there was his 'coon, slowly ascending a tall stump that stood at
the water's edge.

Archie could not refrain from giving a shout of joy, for he was
confident that the chase would soon be over; and he hurried,
impatiently, up and down the bank to find some place to cross, and
finally discovered a small tree lying in the water, whose top reached
almost to the opposite bank. The 'coon had undoubtedly crossed on this
bridge; and Archie sprang upon it. It shook considerably, but he kept
on, and had almost reached the opposite side, when the tree broke, and
he disappeared in the cold water. He rose immediately, and, shaking
the water from his face, struck out for the shore, puffing and blowing
like a porpoise. A few lusty strokes brought him to the bank, and, as
he picked up a handful of stones, he said to himself,

"I guess I'm all right now. If I could only have found some stones
when I treed that 'coon in the woods, he would not have been up there
now, and I should not have got this wet hide. But we'll soon settle
accounts now."

As we have said, the 'coon had taken refuge in a high stump. The
branches had all fallen off, with the exception of one short one,
about two feet from the top; and the 'coon, after trying in vain to
squeeze 'himself into a small hole, about half-way up the stump,
settled down on this limb, and appeared to be awaiting his fate.

Archie took a favorable position, and, selecting a stone, hurled it
with all his force at the 'coon. It whizzed harmlessly by, close to
his head; but the next brought him to the ground, dead.

"There!" exclaimed the young hunter, as he shouldered his prize, and
walked up the creek to find a crossing-place, "I've worked pretty hard
for 'coons, first and last, but this beats all the hunts I ever
engaged in."

He at length reached a place where the water was about knee-deep,
waded across the creek, and started through the woods to find his
companions. When he arrived at the place where the