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Then he took his gun, and slinging his ax on his shoulder he went away to the clearing to cut down some more trees

Laura and Ma watched the fire for several days When s more hickory chips and Ma would put them on the fire under the meat All the time there was a little smell of smoke in the yard, and when the door was opened a thick, smoky, meaty smell came out

At last Pa said the venison had so out, and Pa took all the strips and pieces of meat out of the hollow tree Ma wrapped each piece neatly in paper and hung them in the attic where they would keep safe and dry

OnePa went away b

efore daylight with the horses and wagon, and that night he caon box was piled full, and soone to Lake Pepin and caught them all with a net

Ma cut large slices of flaky white fish, without one bone, for Laura and Mary They all feasted on the good, fresh fish All they did not eat fresh was salted down in barrels for the winter

Pa owned a pig It ran wild in the Big Woods, living on acorns and nuts and roots Now he caught it and put it in a pen s, to fatten He would butcher it as soon as the weather was cold enough to keep the pork frozen

Once in thePa juun froo off, once, twice

When Pa ca black bear standing beside the pigpen The bear was reaching into the pen to grab the pig, and the pig was running and squealing Pa saw this in the starlight and he fired quickly But the light was dim and in his haste he missed the bear The bear ran away into the woods, not hurt at all

Laura was sorry Pa did not get the bear She liked bear meat so much Pa was sorry, too, but he said:

“Anyway, I saved the bacon”

The garden behind the little house had been growing all summer It was so near the house that the deer did not juht Jack kept the there were little hoof-prints aes But Jack’s tracks were there, too, and the deer had juain

Now the potatoes and carrots, the beets and turnips and cabbages were gathered and stored in the cellar, for freezing nights had come

Onions were ether by their tops, and then were hung in the attic beside wreaths of red peppers strung on threads The pureen heaps in the attic’s corners

The barrels of salted fish were in the pantry, and yellow cheeses were stacked on the pantry shelves