way it leaped and the white of its tail. He even made progress
in the difficult art of still hunting, where the man matches his
senses against those of the creatures of the forest,--and sometimes
wins. He soon knew better than to cut the animal's throat, and
learned from Hines that a single stab at a certain point of the
chest was much better for the purposes of bleeding. And, what is
more, he learned not to over-shoot down hill.

Besides these things Jackson taught him many other, minor, details
of woodcraft. Soon the young man could interpret the thousands of
signs, so insignificant in appearance and so important in reality,
which tell the history of the woods. He acquired the knack of
winter fishing.

These Sundays were perhaps the most nearly perfect of any of the
days of that winter. In them the young man drew more directly face
to face with the wilderness. He called a truce with the enemy;
and in return that great inscrutable power poured into his heart
a portion of her grandeur. His ambition grew; and, as always with
him, his determination became the greater and the more secret. In
proportion as his ideas increased, he took greater pains to shut
them in from expression. For failure in great things would bring
keener disappointment than failure in little.

He was getting just the experience and the knowledge he needed; but
that was about all. His wages were twenty-five dollars a month,
which his van bill would reduce to the double eagle. At the end
of the winter he would have but a little over a hundred dollars to
show for his season's work, and this could mean at most only fifty
dollars for Helen. But the future was his. He saw now more plainly