up kindlings and pieces of wood for a fire.

The children picked up their dinner boxes and started off across the
ice. The largest raft held all of them, and soon Mike came over with a
huge bundle of wood that he dragged across the ice to the raft.

He deftly prepared a kindling fire and placed a few of the large pine
chunks upon it. In a short time the children were as warm as if it were
summer time, and the smoke of the wood fire rose straight up in the
clear windless air.

They enjoyed the novelty of the raft dinner so much that several loads
came and the sledges returned before the children were willing to talk
of going back.

"This is dandy ice--wish we could take a skate up and down," ventured
Don.

"'Tis fine ice, isn't it?" abetted Meredith, looking up and down the
river as far as eye could see.

"Let's! Just one spin around," said Paul.

"Mike won't like it," hinted Lavinia.

"Mike won't care. We are perfectly safe on such thick ice," said Don,
looking out of the tail of his eye in Mike's direction.

Mike squatted on the raft smoking his pipe, but he said nothing. He was
thinking over the words the children had spoken.

"Mike, guess we'll take a spin over the ice," said Paul.

"Mike no like him--pouf! full of holes of air!" said Mike, making a
sound to show the children the danger of air-holes.

"We know an air-hole when we see it--and I can't see any of them around
here," replied Paul.

"Besides, we are only going to skate around the raft," said Don.

"Mike no like him, big boys like him, what Mike can do?" said the Indian
helplessly, as he shrugged his shoulders.

"Mike, I won't go--neither shall Dot," said Lavinia.

"Oh, but I am, Viney! Don't think that I am going to sit here like a
baby when Don is off streaking across the ice or doing the 'outer
edge,'" retorted Dot, taking her skates from the bag and unbuckling the
heel straps.

Two sledges had finished unloading and the drivers called out to Mike.

"Comin' back this trip?"

"Nah! we're going to have a skate on the ice," shouted Paul, waving the
men back to the forest.

The boys and Dot put on their skates while Lavinia and Babs sat beside
the fire and watched them. Mike had gone on shore to find something.

After the boys were off, Mike returned dragging a long slender birch
tree along the ice. He placed it near the raft and sat down on the edge
of one of the logs, saying nothing about his errand.

For half an hour, enjoymen