Collie -- Juvenile fiction; Deer -- Juvenile fiction; Hunting stories; Young men -- Juvenile fiction
Ted wrote the second grouse hunter, a Mr. George Beaulieu, that the only
vacancy he had left was for the third week of grouse season. But was he
interested in woodcock? If he was, and if he would advise Ted to that
effect, Ted would be happy to call him long distance in the event of a
worthwhile flight.
Tammie rose, yawned prodigiously and lay down to sleep on his other side
for a while. Ted shuffled the pile of letters, which he needn't put in
the mailbox because he was definitely going into Lorton in the morning,
and pondered.
It hadn't worked out quite as he'd hoped it would, with the camp rented
continuously throughout six weeks of small game hunting and three of
deer. He figured with his pen on a discarded piece of paper. The camp
was definitely rented for two weeks of grouse and one of bear hunting at
forty-five dollars a week. That added up to a hundred and thirty-five
dollars. It was certainly rented for two weeks of deer hunting at sixty
a week, thus he would have a hundred and twenty dollars more.
Ted sighed wistfully. Two hundred and fifty-five dollars was by no means
an insignificant return on their investment, even if they had put a
price on their labor, and they could look forward to the next hunting
and fishing seasons. If Al were here, they'd be happy about it and
eagerly planning more camps.
But Al wasn't here, and all that mattered now was that, by the end of
deer season, Ted could be certain of having at least two hundred and
fifty-five dollars in cash. If John Wilson came, stayed with Ted for
twenty-one days, and paid him twelve dollars a day, that would be two
hundred and fifty-two dollars more. If Mr. Wilson got a buck that
satisfied him, and the buck's antlers had one tine nine inches long--
"Cut it out!" Ted advised himself. "Cut it out, Harkness! Count on what
you know you'll have, and that's two hundred and fifty-five dollars."
Tammie, hearing Ted's voice and thinking he was called, came over to sit
beside his master. He raised a dainty paw to Ted's hand and smiled with
his eyes when the boy took it. Ted glanced at the clock.
"Great guns! Twenty past one! We'd better hit the hay!"
He shucked off his clothes, put on his pajamas and crawled into bed. But
even though he was tired, sleep would not come because he was thinking
of Al. How was his father spending this chilly night--and where? In some
cave perhaps, or some thicket. Ted tried to put such thoughts behind
him. Wherever Al might be, that outdoorsman was warm, dry and even
comfortable. But Ted's mind insisted on seeking the gloomy side, and he
was brought out of it only when Tammie whined.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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