d wings of a flock
of mallard flashed in the air, startled by some creeping hunter.

Slowly, delighted in spite of themselves by the lovely spot, they
followed along its shore. They climbed the bank; and now Ben began to
examine his surroundings with great care.

He had suddenly realized that he was in a region wonderfully fitted for
his permanent camp. The low ridge between the lake and the creek gave a
clear view of a large part of the surrounding country, affording him
every chance of seeing his enemies before they saw him. If they came
along the river--the course they would naturally follow--they would be
obliged to cross the beaver marsh--a half-mile of open grassland with no
protecting coverts. Beatrice saw, dismayed, that his gray eyes were
kindling with unholy fire under his heavy, dark brows.

What if he should see them, deep in the wet grass, filing across the
open marsh! How many shots would be needed to bring his war to a
triumphant end? There were no thickets in which they might find shelter:
hidden himself, they could not return his fire. Before they could break
and run to cover he could destroy them all!

Should they cross the narrow neck of the marsh, higher up, he would have
every chance to see them on the lake shore. The site was good from the
point of health and comfort--high enough to escape the worst of the
insect pests, close to fresh water, plenty of fuel, and within a few
hundred yards of a lake that simply swarmed with fish and waterfowl.

Still following a narrow, racing trout stream that flowed into the lake
they advanced a short distance farther, clear to the base of a rock
wall. And all at once Beatrice, walking in front, drew up with a gasp.

She stood at the edge of a little glade, perhaps thirty yards across,
laying at the base of the cliff. The creek flowed through it, the grass
was green and rich, beloved by the antlered herds that came to graze,
the tall spruce shaded it on three sides. But it was not these things
that caught the girl's eye. Just at the edge of a glade a dark hole
yawned in the face of the cliff.

In an instant more they were beside it, gazing into its depths. It was a
natural cavern with rock walls and a clean floor of sand--a roomy place,
and yet a perfect stronghold against either mortal enemies or the powers
of wind and rain.

"It's home," the man said simply.

XXVI

Ben and Beatrice went together back to the canoe, and in two trips they
carried t