Page:Castlemon--Joe Wayring at Home.djvu/129

 the foot of the lake a little while ago, we found that he had cleared out, taking his shanty with him."

"You saw the constable serve him with a notice to quit, did you!" exclaimed Noble. "Well, you missed the best part of it. You ought to have been there about three hours later, and witnessed the fight that took place between Matt and his family, and the officer and his posse. The old woman proved herself to be the best man in the lot. Matt evidently knew that an effort would be made to eject him by force, and his wife prepared for it by boiling a big kettle of water. When the constable, with a crowd of guides at his back, presented himself at the door, she opened on him with that hot water; and if you could have seen the stampede that followed, you would have laughed until your sides ached, as I did."

"You didn't laugh much when it happened," Prime remarked. "I was there, and I know there wasn't a man or boy in the party who showed a neater pair of heels than one Frank Noble."