of the canoe. It did not
tend toward peace of mind to know that any instant they might encounter
a submerged crag that would rip their craft in twain. Ben felt a growing
eagerness to land.

But within an hour they came out once more upon the open forest. The
river broadened, sped less swiftly, the bank sloped gradually to the
distant hills. This was the heart of Back There,--a virgin and primeval
forest unchanged since the piling-up of the untrodden ranges. The wild
pace of the craft was checked, and they kept watch for a suitable place
to land.

There was no need to push on through the seething cataracts that lay
still farther below. Shortly before the noon hour Ben's quick eye saw a
break in the heavy brushwood that lined the bank and quickly paddled
toward it. In a moment it was revealed as the mouth, of a small, clear
stream, flowing out of a beaver meadow where the grass was rank and
high. In a moment more he pushed the canoe into the mud of the creek
bank.

They both got out, rather sober of mien, and she helped him haul the
canoe out upon the bank. They unloaded it quickly, carrying the supplies
in easy loads fifty yards up into the edge of the forest, on
well-drained dry ground.

The entire forest world was hushed and breathless, as if startled by
this intrusion. Neither of the two travelers felt inclined to speak. And
the silence was finally broken by the splashing feet of a moose, running
through a little arm of the marsh that the forest hid from view.

"Is this our permanent camp?" the girl asked at last.

"Surely not," was the reply. "It's too near the river for one
thing--too easily found. It's too low, too--there'll be mosquitoes in
plenty in that marsh two months from now. The first thing is--to look
around and find a better site."

"You want me to come?"

"I'd rather, if you don't mind."

She understood perfectly. He did not intend to give her complete freedom
until the river fell so low that the rapids farther down would be wholly
impassable.

"I'll come." Beatrice smiled grimly. "We can have that picnic we
planned, after all."

They found a moose trail leading into the forest, and leaving the wolf
on guard over the supplies, they filed swiftly along it in that
peculiar, shuffling, mile-speeding gait that all foresters learn. At
once both were aware of a subdued excitement. In the first place, this
was unknown country and they experienced the incomparable thrill of
exploration. Besides