as you two! And mother'll be delighted to know that everything's
going so swell. I had a letter from Doctor Kane to-day---guess
I told you? He said the operation was very successful and she's
doing finely."

"Mighty glad to know it!" Tom declared warmly. "Did he say when
she could come home?"

"In a few days. But you fellows can't leave then! No, sir-ee!
We're going to have some fun after all this work is over, and
mother and I will want you to stay and loaf for a while. I can
show you where to get some dandy photos of nesting birds, and
I know where a pair of red foxes have a kennel every spring.
You can take pictures of the vixen and her cubs, if you go about
it carefully at the right time of day."

Arthur's eyes shone with pleasant anticipation. He was delighted
with the prospect of getting some good photographs to show the
boys in Pioneer Camp. But Tom, though he also looked forward
eagerly to the reunion of the troop at camp, shook his head with
regret at the thought of leaving the farm. Ralph had told him
more about the dispute over the boundary, and about his father's
dreams of finding iron ore on the land; Tom was interested, for
Ralph's sake, in having the land surveyed and examined.

"Why don't you go to bed now, too?" asked Tom, when they had
finished talking about animal photography. "You need the rest, I
know, Ralph."

"I'm going, in a few minutes, just as soon as I finish this letter.