At length, after securing four squirrels, their shoulders became so lame that they could scarcely raise their guns; so they concluded to give up shooting, and start in search of Woods and Simpson, who had gone off together.  About noon they found them, sitting on the fence that ran between the woods and a road.  Simpson had three squirrels in his hand.

“We are waiting for you,” he said, as Frank and Archie came up; “it’s about time to start for the boat.”

“I’m hungry,” said Frank; “why can’t we go down to that house and hire some one to cook our squirrels for us?”

“That’s a good idea,” said Woods; “come along;” and he sprang off the fence, and led the way toward the house spoken of by Frank, which stood about a quarter of a mile down the road, toward the river.

As they opened the gate that led into the yard, they noticed that a man, who sat on the porch in front of the house, regarded them with a savage scowl on his face.

“How cross that man looks!” said Archie, who, with his cousin, was a little in advance of the others; “maybe he’s a reb.”

“How do you do, sir?” inquired Frank, as he approached the place where the man was sitting.

“What do yees want here?” he growled, in reply.

“We came here to see if we couldn’t hire some one to cook a good dinner for us,” answered Frank.

“No, ye can’t,” answered the man, gruffly; “get out o’ here.  I never did nothin’ for a Yank, an’ I never will.  I’d like to see yer all drove from the country.  Get out o’ here, I tell yer,” he shouted, seeing that the sailors did not move, “or I’ll let my dogs loose on yer!”

“Why, I really believe he is a reb,” said Archie; “he’s the first one I ever saw.  He looks just like any body else, don’t he, boys?”

“If yees don’t travel mighty sudden, I’ll make a scatterin’ among yer,” said the man, between his clenched teeth; “I’ll be dog-gone if I don’t shoot some o’ yer;” and he reached for a long double-barrel shot-gun that stood behind his chair.

“Avast, there, you old landlubber,” exclaimed Simpson; “just drop that shootin’ iron, will you.  We’re four to your one, and you don’t suppose that we are going to stand still and be shot down, like turkeys on Thanksgivin’ morning, do you?  No, sir, that would be like the handle of a jug, all on one side.  Shootin’ is a game two can play at, you know.  Come, put that we’pon down;” and Simpson held his musket in the hollow of his arm, and handled the lock in a very significant manner.

The man saw that the sailors were not to be intimidated, and not liking the way Simpson eyed him, he leaned his gun up in the corner again, and muttered something about Yankee mudsills and Abolitionists.

“Just clap a stopper on that jaw of yours, will you,” said Simpson; “or, shiver my timbers, if we don’t try man-o’-war punishment on you.  Now, Frank,” he continued, “you just jump up there, and shoot off the old rascal’s gun; and then keep an eye on him, and don’t let him get out of his chair; and the rest of us will look around and see what we can find in the way of grub.”