My Side of the Mountain

One day as Sam and Frightful wander through the woods, a young man around Sam’s age approaches. He introduces himself as Matt Spell and tells Sam that he works after school for a New York newspaper. Matt also tells Sam that he came to the Catskills motivated to find the wild boy living in the Catskills, believing that he could get a job as a reporter if he successfully captured the story. Sam spends much of the day deceiving Matt, attempting to convince Matt that he’s not the wild boy from the other news stories. Sam even claims to have seen the wild boy before, suggesting that he lives in a cave. When Matt reads back his notes to Sam, it become clear that Sam’s attempts at misleading him have not worked, as Matt describes Sam’s physical appearance and present whereabouts.

Sam begs Matt not to publish this accurate story about him, which would surely trigger more reporters and other people to invade. The two young men ultimately strike a deal whereby Matt will not publish the story if Sam allows him to spend his spring vacation at Sam’s camp. After Matt leaves, Sam nervously walks back to his camp, debating with himself about what he should do.