g ax.

"Huh! went all the way through, that time," said Step-hen, who was
watching the operation closely; "reckon the old tree must be as rotten
as punk."

"Make a dandy blaze, all right," ventured Giraffe, whose mind was bent
on fires, so that he never lost a chance for making one; and who loved
to sit and watch it burn, much as the old fire worshippers might have
done in long-ago times.

"Take care, Allan," remarked Thad; "don't strike so hard next time. Why,
you'll knock a hole in that stump in a jiffy. It's only a shell."

"I could drop the whole thing in fifteen minutes, believe me," answered
the boy who wielded the ax so cleverly, having learned the trick from
the native woodsmen up in Maine, his native State.

Again the sharp-edged tool descended; and the hole grew considerably
larger. The prisoner kept urging them to make more haste, and exclaim
that he was swelling up so fast as a result of his bites, that he'd soon
be unable to crawl out, even if half the tree trunk were chopped away.

But Allan was a methodical chap, and could not be urged into
carelessness when making use of such a dangerous tool as a keen-edged
ax. He chopped close to the imaginary line he had drawn; and as large
chips fell in a shower the aperture increased in size until they could
see the lower limbs of the prisoner.

"Can't you drop down on your hands and knees, Bumpus?" called Thad. "I
should think the hole was big enough now to let you get out."

"Oh! I'll try," wailed the other; "I'm willing to do anything you say,
Thad, if only you can patch me up, and keep me from bursting. There, I
did manage to squeeze down on my knees; but I don't believe I can ever
get through."

"We're willing to help you, old fellow," remarked Davy, as he seized
hold of a hand; while Step-hen took the other; and between them they
pulled, while Bumpus used his legs to kick backward; and finally he was
dragged triumphantly out of his strange prison.

But when the boys saw his swollen face they stopped their loud laughing;
for although the fat boy tried to grin good-naturedly, he was such a
sight that pity took the place of merriment in the hearts of his chums.

The vicious ants had really bitten his cheeks so that they were swollen
up very much, and Bumpus looked like a boy with the mumps.

CHAPTER III.

THE ACCUSATION MADE BY STEP-HEN.

"Am I going to swell up any more, Thad; and will you just have to put
hoops on me to keep me from bur