Page:Castlemon--Joe Wayring at Home.djvu/355

 deputy sheriff and constable searched every inch of the ground around Sherwin's Pond, and all they found was the place where Matt's shanty once stood. He set fire to it before he left for Indian Lake."

"I know that the woods about here are tolerable thick, and that Matt is a boss hand at hiding," replied the guide; "but he will find that there's a heap of difference between dodging a couple of townies, and in getting away from a lot of men who have lived in the woods ever since they were knee high to so many ducks. Go on, Joe. What else do you know about Matt Coyle?"

The rest of Joe's story related solely to the events of the evening, and it did not take him long to describe them. When he concluded the guide was almost as angry as he and his chums were. The idea that that worthless vagabond should threaten to beat such a boy as Joe Wayring, simply because he had showed the courage to defend himself when he was assaulted! The guide made no remark, but there was a look in his eye that would have made the squatter uneasy if he had been there to see it.