Buffalo Roost: A Story of a Young Men's Christian Association Boys' DepartmentCheley, Frank H. (Frank Howbert)
Religion
Buffalo Roost: A Story of a Young Men's Christian Association Boys' Department
Cheley, Frank H. (Frank Howbert)
Christian fiction; Young men's Christian associations -- Fiction
"Fellows, I think we, too, have made a mistake, and as long as Smith has
been man enough to square himself with us, let us be men enough to square
ourselves with him. We have always called him Sleepy, and he has been
true to the name; but I never knew a boy yet who didn't live up to what
his best friends expected of him. Smith always knew we didn't expect
much, didn't you, boy? Now, let's expect more, and we'll get more. Smith,
we, too, are sorry. Let's expect the best from every fellow and every
fellow will give his best, although it will take real manhood to do it
sometimes."
Ham and Willis went out to take a last look at the donkeys before going
to bed. As they stood on the step, talking things over, they were
startled to hear, somewhere in the night air, the long-drawn bark of a
dog. It came again and again. "Over in the next canyon," was Ham's
remark. "Up by the old mine," was Willis's thought, as he turned and went
into the cabin.
After breakfast Willis took the trail that led to his father's mine. He
went alone, for he had told no one of its discovery, not even Ham. He was
not at all surprised to find the footprints of three men and a dog on the
upper trail, and found no difficulty in following them to the mine. Once
there, the first thing that attracted his attention was a new sign,
nailed up in the place of the old tin one; on it, in bold, black letters,
was written, "Private property, keep off!" The snow had been shoveled
from one end of the dump, and it looked very much as if some of the rocks
had been carried away. Willis wondered, but his reflections gave him no
light. He noticed, however, that the tracks did not return down the
trail, but ran off over the hill and into the next canyon. He made some
careful observations, then returned to the cabin.
Upon Mr. Dean's suggestion, the morning was spent in tobogganing in wood
while the snow was good. It was great fun to see the great logs slide
down with a long swish and pile up in front of the cabin. The fellows
worked with a will, and by noon a large supply had been pulled in. The
next thing was to cut it and pile it away in the house. Smith undertook
to build a sawbuck, and, with Mr. Allen's help, the job was soon
accomplished. Every fellow then took his turn sawing off blocks until
dinner time.
As they sat around the table enjoying a camp meal of fried ham, boiled
rice, potatoes, rye bread, and coffee, a general discussion arose as to
what the cabin should be named. They hoped to get the big bed filled with
balsam boughs that afternoon before they started home, then the place
would be ready for real use on a big scale; and, of course, it must have
a name.
"Let's call it Snowbird Retreat," suggested Fat naively.
"Not on your life!" called Smith good-naturedly. "No snowbirds about this
house; you want a good, warm, comfortable name. I'd freeze to death, or
maybe get scared, if you called it that."
"St. Mary's Inn," suggested Ham.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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