ond of
the ladies, I'm told."

"His name sounds dreadfully rakish, Gilly," teased Joan.

"If Jacob is as faithful as his name would imply, we'd like to meet
him," added Mrs. Vernon, smiling.

"You shall. He lives at the farm where my overseer is, and the next time
Mr. Benson is due here, I'll see that Jake accompanies him. If both
sides are mutually attracted, the dog shall stay to give you scouts
something to do," declared Mr. Gilroy.

"What kind of a dog is he, Gilly?" asked Betty, eagerly.

"He is a prize Airedale. But he is so clever that he tries to run
everything on the farm, consequently Mr. Benson always has to separate
Jake from the other dogs in the neighborhood."

For the next two days the scouts were kept busy constructing a fine
kennel for Jake to live in when he joined their camp. Everything
imaginable was done to add to the comfort and luxury of this "dog's
life"; and the third day they started for the bungalow to be introduced
to Jake, who was expected to arrive that morning.

It was a warm, drowsy day, and the wildwood creatures seemed to be
keeping quiet. Even the bees hummed less noisily over the flowers they
were robbing of nectar. The girls strolled slowly along the pathway,
stopping now and then to watch a bird or examine a flower. They were
just passing the bend where the tumbling brook could be plainly seen
from the trail when, suddenly, Julie held up a warning hand for quiet.

Every one stopped short and waited. She pointed silently across the
bushes in the direction of a long fallen tree that lay on the bank of
the stream. The scouts looked, but saw nothing to cause this interest.
Then she whispered warily, "I saw a big creature creeping along that
log!"

"Really!"

"What did it look like? Which way did it go?" were questions hoarsely
whispered.

"It crawled on that log and suddenly disappeared. Maybe it jumped into
the water when it saw us. I am thinking it was a beaver," returned
Julie.

"Oh, how wonderful! If we could only see it at work," cried some of the
scouts.

"How big was it, Julie?" now asked Mrs. Vernon.

"It went so fast that I couldn't see well, but I should say it was about
as big as a very large cat,--maybe larger if we were closer," said
Julie.

"Dear me, if we didn't have to go for Jake we might sit and wait for it
to appear again. If it is a beaver, I'd love to watch it build a dam,"
sighed Ruth.

"I hope Jake won't want to chase it, on our way back," B