218 
WILD SCENES AND SONG-BIRDS. 
of cord- wood, wbicli left only a narrow alley between them 
and the hut which they partially obscured. 
It was the usual square pen of logs, with only one room 
and a wide fire-place, in which now burned a dim blaze. 
When we sat the trunk down on the side nearest the door, 
the man commenced talking in what I thought a somewhat 
insolent tone, about how unnecessary it was for us to be 
troubled with lugging in all those heavy trunks, when they 
were perfectly safe on the bank. I very quietly answered 
that, as the night promised to be stormy, we preferred having 
our baggage under shelter, and directed him to go back and 
assist my friends in bringing the remainder in. The fellow 
went off sulkily, and very soon he and the Yankee returned, 
bending under the weight of one of that respectable proficient's 
mysterious black trunks. My friend had remained behind 
to guard the rest of the baggage. I felt uneasy that he should 
be left there in the dark alone, for I knew that he as well as 
myself was unarmed, and unable to restrain my impatience, 
I said to him, as coolly as possible, in an undertone — ■ 
" See here, my green one. You had better look out for 
yourself You are not in old Connecticut now !" 
"Waal now, I guess I will. They don't cheat me out of 
nothin'!" 
Seeing that the fellow was incorrigible I left him, drag- 
ging the man of the wood-yard after me, as I hurried back 
to the side of my friend, fearing vaguely that something might 
have occurred. I found him, however, walking back and 
forth, with folded arms, before the baggage, and with an ex- 
pression of uneasiness that so precisely corresponded with 
my own feelings as to assure me that there must surely be 
something wrong one way or another. 
The baggage was now housed as quickly as possible by 
our united efforts. As my older friend had not yet said any- 
thing which implied the slightest distrust of our present po- 
sition and relations, I, as the younger man, was compelled 
to take it for granted that he saw nothing which would justify 
