E-text prepared by Al Haines

BACK TO THE WOODS

The Story of a Fall from Grace

BY HUGH McHUGH

AUTHOR OF

"JOHN HENRY," "DOWN THE LINE WITH JOHNHENRY," "IT'S UP TO YOU," ETC.

ILLUSTRATED

1902

To all the boys in the Hammer Club:—Greetingsand gesundheit! Get together now and hithard—for the Devil loveth a Cheerful Knocker.

CONTENTS.

JOHN HENRY'S LUCKY DAYS

JOHN HENRY'S GHOST STORY

JOHN HENRY'S BURGLAR

JOHN HENRY'S COUNTRY COP

JOHN HENRY'S TELEGRAM

JOHN HENRY'S TWO QUEENS

JOHN HENRY'S HAPPY HOME

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Yours till the last whistle blows, believe me! John Henry

Clara J.—A Dream of Peaches—Please Pass the Cream

Uncle Peter—the Original Trust Tamer

Aunt Martha—a Short, Stout Bundle of Good Nature

Tacks—the Boy Disaster

Bunch Jefferson—All to the Good and Two to Carry

CHAPTER I.

JOHN HENRY'S LUCKY DAYS.

Seven, come eleven!

After promising Clara J. that I would never again light a pipe atthe race track, there I stood, one of the busiest puff-puff laddieson the circuit.

Well, the truth of the matter is just this: I fell asleep at theswitch and somebody put the white lights all over me.

Just how I happened to join the Dream Builders' Association I don'tknow, but for several weeks I was Willie the Wild Boy at the racetrack and I kept all the Bookmakers busy trying not to laugh whenthey took my money.

Every day when I showed up at the gate the Pipers played "Darling,Dream of Me!" and every time I picked a skate the Smokers' Societywent into executive session and elected me a life member.

Every horse that finished last gave me the trembling lip as hecrawled home, well aware of the fact that I had caught him with thegoods.

I blame Bunch Jefferson for putting the bug in my Central.

Bunch went down to the skating pond one day with $18 and pickedfour live wires at an average of 8 to 1. Then he began to talkabout himself.

After that event whenever I happened to meet Bunch he would raisehis megaphone and fill the neighborhood with hot ozone, fresh fromthe oven.

It was pitiful to see that boy swell.

Just to cure Bunch and drive him out of the balloon business I madeup my mind one day I'd run down to the Flatfish Factory and drag afew honest dollars away from the Bookmakers.

Splash!

That's where I fell overboard.

One bright Saturday P. M. found me clinging to a wad the size ofa fountain pen and trying to decide whether I'd better playDinkalorum at 40 to 1 or Hysterics at 9 to 5.

I finally decided that a ten-spot on Dinkalorum would net me enoughto give Bunch a line of sad talk, so I stepped up to the poor-boxand contributed.

Dinkalorum started off in the lead like a pale streak and Iimmediately bought an entirely new set of furniture for the flat.

About half way around a locomotive whistle happened to blow nearby. Dinkalorum

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