commune with our souls, and Aggie's
arms were so sunburned that she could not bend them at the elbows. But,
as Tish said, we had already proved our contention that we could get
along without men or houses or things. Things, she said, were the curse
of modern life; we filled our lives with things instead of thoughts.

It was when we were ready to cook the puffballs that we missed the
kettle! Tish was very angry; she said it was evident that the bear was
mischievous and that all bears were thieves. (See the "Young Woodsman.")
But I recalled the glow of the night before, and more than once I caught
Aggie's eyes on me, filled with consternation. For we had seen that
kettle leaving the camp with some of our fire in it, and bears are
afraid of fire!

We reached the lake at noon and it seemed as if we might soon have time
to sit down and rest. But there was a great deal to do. Aggie was of no
assistance on account of her arms, so Tish and I put up the tent. The
"Young Woodsman" said it was easy. First you tied three long poles
together near the top and stood them up so they made a sort of triangle.
Then you cut about a dozen and filled in between the three. That looked
easy, but it took an afternoon, and our first three looked like this
first cut.

[Illustration:
AS THE FIRST THREE LOOKED
AS THEY SHOULD HAVE LOOKED]

We had caught a rabbit by noon, and Aggie being unfit for other work,
and the kettle being gone, Tish set her to roasting it. It was not
very good, but we ate some, being ravenous. The method was simplicity
itself--two forked sticks in the ground, one across to hang the rabbit
to and a fire beneath. It tasted rather smoky.

In the afternoon we finished putting up the tepee, and Tish made a
fishhook out of a hairpin and tied it to a strong creeper I had found.
But we caught no fish. We had more rabbit for supper, with some
puffballs smoked and a few huckleberries. But by that time the very
sight of a rabbit sickened me, and Aggie began to talk about broiled
beefsteak and fried spring chicken.

We had seen no sign of the bear, or whatever it was, all day, and it
seemed likely we were not to be again disturbed. But a most mysterious
thing occurred that very night.

As I have said, we had caught no fish. The lake was full of them. We sat
on a bank that evening and watched them playing leapfrog, and talked
about frying them on red-hot stones, but nothing came near the hairpin.
At last Tish made a suggesti