leaped to his feet, and clutched an imaginary object with both hands.
He then squatted down again, and continued his tale of the tragedy that
night by the shore of the forest stream.

When he was through he rose to his feet, picked up his musket, and
looked again at the girl. He then plunged into the night and the
forest, leaving his wife to keep guard alone by the fire. The dawn of
a new day was breaking when he returned and threw two snared partridges
down upon the ground for his wife to prepare for breakfast. But
something more important than birds had kept him abroad that night.
His face was serious, and his eyes glowed with anxiety and anger as he
laid aside his gun, and spoke a few commanding words to his wife.




CHAPTER XVIII

LOYAL FRIENDS

It was broad daylight when Jean opened her eyes and looked curiously
around. It was a still, frosty morning. The sun sifted down through
the branches of the trees, and formed a fantastic net-work of light and
shadow upon the ground. A deep silence prevailed, and as the girl
looked dreamily at the lordly pines, birches, and maples, her eyes
wandered far up among their overhanging branches. They reminded her of
some majestic cathedral, with stately pillars and crowning arches,
pictures of which she had at times seen. She remembered how her father
had once told her that the forest was the original cathedral, and that
along the silent woody aisles primitive people used to worship the