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Mitchell’s Cabin; or Doing Time in the WoodsMitchell’s Cabin; or Doing Time in the Woods
This story follows “The Mrs. Loretta” ends.This story follows “The Mrs. Loretta” ends. Kid, I’ve told you there’s all sorts of reasons to read literature. And speaking of books, I’ve been thinking about that “Walden” book by Thoreau and I’ve got an idea.”“Well if it’s as good as the idea from that Lysistrata thing I’ll give it someconsideration.”“Kid it’s even better. How many times have we been chased out of towns in the last couple of years?”“Heyes, you don’t need to ask me that. Too many times.”“Right. So all we gotta do is what this Thoreau fella did. He lived in a cabin by himself; practiced being self-reliant.”“Is that what that book is all about?”“Well it’s about more than that. It’s got a lot of philosophy in it. But that’s not what isimportant. What’s important is the idea of living away from everyone in a cabin. If an Easterner like Thoreau could do that, we could do it easy. We pick up supplies in Porterville, that way we can tell Lom where we’ll be, and head on up to old Mitchell’scabin. All we have to do is take it easy and wait out our amnesty.”“Heyes, I think you’ve talked me into it.”
“Let me get this straight. You two are gonna live by yourselves in Mitchell’s cabin untilthe amnesty comes through.” Lom Trevors, sheriff of Porterville and former outlaw,looked at Hannibal Heyes and Kid Curry with a mixture of disbelief and amusement onhis features and in his voice.“Lom, you’ve gotta admit it’s a great idea. You yourself said we should stay out of trouble. Can you think of a better way? We won’t be around any lawmen that mightrecognize us…”“Heyes is right. No posses, no getting chased out of towns…”“No poker. No women. Have you two stopped to consider that?”“We are going to be confining ourselves ‘to the most significant and vital experiences,’ because ‘it is life near the bone where it is sweetest.’ The best things in life ARE freeLom, and we don’t need much to survive on.”The Kid nodded and said “Yeah, whatever he says,” indicating Heyes. Lom stared at thetwo of them as if questioning their sanity.“Look Lom, we are only talking a few months, right? It’s not going to be that muchlonger before we get our amnesty. You said yourself the governor was looking at us witha more favorable eye recently,” said Heyes stating his case more pragmatically.“Yeah, I figure we can do six months on our own easy. I mean Heyes says this fella Thee-1
 
row lived on his own and he was an Easterner. Lots of fellas live on their own for months,maybe years, like trappers.”“Uh huh.”“Oh c’mon Lom, this way you won’t have to worry about us.”“Oh I’m not worried about you two.”“That’s good Lom. Anyway you’ll know where we’ll be if you need to contact us.”“Mitchell’ cabin,” he paused thinking. “When’s the last time you’ve seen that placeanyway? Five, six years? We’ve had some rough winters you know.”The Kid and Heyes looked at each other with knowing grins.“Lom,” said the Kid, “we are talking about Mitchell’s cabin. He built it like a fort.”“And it’s already spring; it’ll be summer soon, so we don’t have to worry about theweather.”“Well I hope you two know what you are doing.” Lom glanced down at his desk andshuffled some papers. Raising his head he continued, “I’m not so sure you two can lasttwo weeks much less six months without a saloon down the street.”“Lom!” Heyes smiled pretending to be offended. “I think you have lost your faith in us.Tell you what, we can bet on it. A sporting proposition.”“A sporting proposition, Heyes?” Lom rubbed his chin. “OK, I bet you two don’t make it past six weeks up there alone.”“Six weeks? Lom you are on,” said the Kid eagerly. He did a second take. “Uh Lom, howmuch?”“Why don’t we say we’ll each pay Lom $100 if we don’t stay the six weeks against his paying us $100 if we do? After all Lom, you’re our friend; I’d feel pretty badly if we took you for too much.”“Well Heyes, that’s real generous of you. It’s a deal.”The men shook hands on the bargain.“You boys take care. I’ll be seeing you.”“When the amnesty comes through, Lom.”“Whatever you say, Kid.”The two men were on the winding mountainous trail that led to the cabin once occupied by trapper Jeff Mitchell. Mitchell had counted the outlaws that roamed WyomingTerritory among his friends, mainly because living in such an isolated spot he figured hecouldn’t afford to be particular about any company that cared to show up. His cabin hadwelcomed numerous visitors of dubious morality and occupations, generally on the runfrom the law, who counted on his discretion and his food for survival. Mitchell was gonenow. No one was sure what parts he had left for, although Oregon was considered likely,and there were even stories that he had left for Canada.As far as Heyes was concerned, the vacant cabin would be an ideal spot to practice self-reliance, self-reliance that didn’t require too much effort that is. With this in mind, he andthe Kid had brought abundant supplies of food with them, including a forty pound bag of flour, plentiful corn meal, sugar, Arbuckles coffee, canned beans, canned tomatoes,canned green beans, and beef jerky, the latter in case they had difficulty catching game.They didn’t think that was likely to occur, but it didn’t hurt to be prepared. The supplieswere loaded onto two pack mules, along with rifles and ammunition for hunting, a box of cigars, whiskey, brandy for special occasions, matches, pencils, pens, inkwells, and two blank writing journals.2
 
My Journal by JedXXX CuXXX Thaddeus Jones4
th
AprilWe had coffee for breakfast and it was purty good since I made it. Biscuits and bacon.We got here yesterday and the roof has some holes in it so we’re gonna fix it, but it’s OK for now ‘cause the weather is good. The cabin looks a little tired but Mitchell built itgood so I suppose it is stronger than it looks. We can always fix anything it needs. Thereis only one bedframe so we are gonna take turns sleeping on it or on the floor.We can be real lazy here, and not have to work which is fine with me.The sky is clear. We are gonna fish. Looking forward to lunch.“Heyes.” The Kid was sitting crossed legged in front of the cabin on one side of thedoorway.“Mmm, what?” Heyes was lying on the ground propped against the wall of the cabin onthe other side of the door reading.“I feel stupid writing in this thing.”“If you’d rather, I can loan you a book to read.”“Funny, Heyes. You know I don’t see you writing in yours. If keeping a journal of ‘our experience in the woods’ is such a good idea how come you’re not doing it?”“Kid, I was up before you, remember? I’ve already made my entry for the day. I didn’tsleep in like you. I wanted to get a start on this Thoreau type of life. I’ve already made arecord of my thoughts and experiences so far, my humble philosophy so to speak. And itreally isn’t that difficult Kid. ‘The forcible writer stands bodily behind his words withexperience. He does not make books out of books, but he has been THERE in person.’You do have experiences and thoughts you can write about don’t you?” Heyes grinned.“’Course I’ve got things I can write about! I’m having experiences too, you know. You’renot the only one with ideas, you know.”“Good. Go ahead and write them, it’s a good habit to get into. I’ll read while you write.”The Kid stared at his journal page, sucking intently on the end of his pencil. He glancedsideways at Heyes, and back down at the page several times. Finally he shut the journalwith the pencil in it. He put his hands behind his head, leaned back against the cabin wall,and then closed his eyes. Heyes snickered. The Kid ignored him.A few minutes passed. The Kid became restless and shifted his legs repeatedly.“We should go fishing now.”“Kid, we have all day, what’s the hurry?”“It’s better to fish earlier; we’ll catch more fish that way.”“Kid it is not going to take us a long time to catch enough fish to eat for lunch. Exactlyhow many fish were you planning to eat?”“Heyes, you can read while we’re fishing as well as you can here.”“Mmm, that’s true Kid. OK. You get the poles ready, and we’ll go.”“I’ll get my pole ready and you can get your pole ready, and we’ll go.”“Alright, you get your pole ready, go on down and start fishing and I’ll meet you therelater.”The Kid stood, looked down at his partner, muttered some imprecation below his breath,and stalked off. A few minutes later he returned with two poles.He stood beside Heyes blocking the sunlight. Heyes pursed his lips and looked up.When he saw the two poles the Kid held his mouth widened into a broad open grin.“Well thank you Kid, that’s much appreciated.”3
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