w it
stood a portable washstand. The second tent, devoted to the two men,
was not quite so luxurious; but still boasted of little conveniences the
true woodsman would never consider worth the bother of transporting. The
third, equally large, was the dining tent. The other three, smaller, and
on the A tent order, served respectively as sleeping rooms for Ginger
and the Indians, and as a general store-house for provisions and
impedimenta.

Thorpe sent an Indian to Camp One for the bearskins, put the rest to
digging a trench around the sleeping tents in order that a rain storm
might not cause a flood, and ordered Ginger to excavate a square hole
some feet deep which he intended to utilize as a larder.

Then he gave Morton and Cary hints as to the deer they wished to
capture, pointed out the best trout pools, and issued advice as to the
compassing of certain blackberries, not far distant.

Simple things enough they were to do--it was as though a city man were
to direct a newcomer to Central Park, or impart to him a test for the
destinations of trolley lines--yet Thorpe's new friends were profoundly
impressed with his knowledge of occult things. The forest was to them,
as to most, more or less of a mystery, unfathomable except to the
favored of genius. A man who could interpret it, even a little, into the
speech of everyday comfort and expediency possessed a strong claim to
their imaginations. When he had finished these practical affairs, they
wanted him to sit down and tell them more things, to dine with them, to
smoke about their camp fire in the evening. But here they encountered
a decided check. Thorpe became silent, almost morose. He talked in
monosyllables, and soon went away. They did not know what to make of
him, and so were, of course, the more profoundly interested. The truth
was, his habitual reticence would not have permitted a great degree of
expansion in any case, but now the presence of Hilda made any but an
attitude of hushed waiting for her words utterly impossible to him. He
wished well to them all. If there was anything he could do for them,
he would gladly undertake it. But he would not act the lion nor tell of
his, to them, interesting adventures.

However, when he discovered that Hilda had ceased visiting the clump
of pines near the pole trail, his desire forced him back among these
people. He used to walk in swiftly at almost any time of day, casting
quick glances here and there in search of his di