He rose immediately, and, shaking
the water from his face, struck out for the shore, puffing and blowing
like a porpoise. A few lusty strokes brought him to the bank, and, as
he picked up a handful of stones, he said to himself,
"I guess I'm all right now. If I could only have found some stones
when I treed that 'coon in the woods, he would not have been up there
now, and I should not have got this wet hide. But we'll soon settle
accounts now."
As we have said, the 'coon had taken refuge in a high stump. The
branches had all fallen off, with the exception of one short one,
about two feet from the top; and the 'coon, after trying in vain to
squeeze 'himself into a small hole, about half-way up the stump,
settled down on this limb, and appeared to be awaiting his fate.
Archie took a favorable position, and, selecting a stone, hurled it
with all his force at the 'coon. It whizzed harmlessly by, close to
his head; but the next brought him to the ground, dead.
"There!" exclaimed the young hunter, as he shouldered his prize, and
walked up the creek to find a crossing-place, "I've worked pretty hard
for 'coons, first and last, but this beats all the hunts I ever
engaged in.
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