After the Woodchuck. 



feet hickory nuts, joined at the sides, 

 so that they were like the Siamese 

 twins. These twin nuts were much 

 sought after, for the fact was known 

 far and near, and with that regard to 

 luck following the finding of a four- 

 leafed clover, so good fortune was 

 supposed to follow the finding of all of 

 these double hickory nuts. In those 

 days, Uncle Jake was seldom without a 

 gun when he was away from the house, 

 and this led to all the trouble that fol- 

 lowed. One night, in early October, a 

 sharp frost followed the storm, and 

 with the frost came a stiff north-west 

 wind. Throughout the night, the 

 branches of the trees crackled as they 

 struck each other in handsome fashion. 

 At least, so thought Uncle Jake, as he 

 lay snuggled up under the bed clothes, 

 while visions of fast-falling hickory nuts 

 floated through his mind all the night. 

 Long before "sun-up" he was up and 

 out, his gun, of course, in his hands. 

 Reaching the hickory tree, he found a 

 wealth of nuts on the ground. He was 

 soon busy gathering them. Pausing 

 for a moment, he happened to look 

 toward the rising sun, when he saw 

 something which caused him to give 

 up gathering the " mast " and grab his 

 gun. In that direction the meadow 

 was bounded by a huge pile of rock — 

 broken, seamed, cracked in every direc- 

 tion — but rising some twenty feet 

 above the level of the sward. The 

 interstices in this pile of rocks were 

 grown to a dense mass of foliage. 

 There were grape vines, blackberry 

 canes, and clumps of the poison ivy, 

 while at the top a couple of butternut 

 trees stood out prominently. In that 

 clump of rock and verdure a wood- 

 chuck had its home. Uncle Jake had 

 hunted for him a good many times, but 

 the 'chuck had given him the slip. And 



right now was whai Uncle Jake saw. 

 Far out in the meadow was this same 

 woodchuck, getting his breakfast. He 

 was rods and rods away from his bur- 

 row, and the opportunity seemed to 

 have come at last. When that wood- 

 chuck rose to inspect his surroundings, 

 down went Uncle Jake to earth. When 

 within sixty yards of each other, the 

 animal caught sight of the biped. He 

 started on a mad run for his burrow. 

 Now, old fellow, I've got you, at last, 

 thought Uncle Jake. Up went the gun 

 to the shoulder. Out on the frosty air 

 rang the report, and, at the noise, over 

 rolled the woodchuck on his back, each 

 leg beating a tattoo in the air. Some 

 ground had been covered by the 'chuck 

 before the shot came, so that his posi- 

 tion was within a few rods of the 

 burrow. Uncle Jake took a step for- 

 ward, and then stopped. Confound 

 you, he thought, you may be playing 

 'possum. I'll give you the other barrel, 

 anyhow. Again came the shot. Before 

 the powder smoke had fairly cleared 

 away, Uncle Jake saw that woodchuck 

 make for his hole at a great rate. Then 

 came a race. Uncle Jake was last in it. 

 The woodchuck beat him out, and had 

 disappeared within his burrow. The 

 ground was examined, and blood was 

 found in many spots. The animal had 

 been hit. How hard, was but matter 

 of guess work. There was no prospect 

 of getting him out, for the burrow was 

 between the rocks, and it was an im- 

 possible thing to do, for him. Was 

 Uncle Jake disgusted ? That doesn't 

 express his state of feeling. Now 

 comes the sequel. 



The next Summer, along in early 

 August, Uncle Jake was out black- 

 berrying. His dog, Riley, a nonde- 

 script in blood, but a great rabbit dog, 

 for all that, was with him. It was 



