m--"Now, Mary," he continued, "give
me a pair of Edward's and Anne's shoes, that they have worn." They were
given him, and taking the hounds by the collar, he made them smell the
shoes until they got the scent, then leading them to the bank of the
stream pointed to them the tracks made in the morning.

"They have it! they have it!" shouted the family, as the hounds, with
their noses to the ground, led off in fine style.

"Take Prince and Carl in the leash, Lewis, and fasten it to your
saddle, then mount and away," cried the Trapper, throwing himself into
his saddle, and giving the mule the spur, he was rapidly following in
their wake.

Two hours passed, when the signals were given for the horses. Sidney
saddled them, took a basket of provisions which Mrs. Duncan had put up
with her usual thoughtfulness for others, and started in the direction
from which the firing proceeded.

Edward and Anne, in the morning, had followed the course of the stream
as far down as their father had traced them, Edward whiling away the
time in drawing the finny tribes from their element, Anne in weaving in
wreaths the gorgeous tinted wild flowers, sweet scented violets, and
glossy green of the running pine. The children heeded not time, nor the
distance they were placing between themselves and the camp, but
wandered on. The wild birds were trilling the most delicious music,
which burst on the ear enchantingly, and was the only sound that broke
the solemn stillness that reigned around, save the soft gurgling of the
water, as it glided over its pebbly bed. The forest was dense, the
foliage above them shielding them from the sun, while the bank was
smooth, mossy, and thickly studded with wild spring flowers, now in all
the luxuriance of their natural loveliness. When they came to the bank
of the stream where their father lost their track, they had their
curiosity excited by a grove of willows on the opposite side, in the
midst of which they could discern trunks of large trees piled up
systematically, with a quantity of rubbish laying around. Thoughtlessly
they resolved to cross over. The stream was about forty feet wide, but
very shallow, not over three feet deep at any point, and in many places
not more than two. But in order to get over, it was necessary to make a
raft. Edward was at no loss how to begin; he had too often seen his
father make temporary rafts to hesitate. Indeed, he looked upon it as a
thing too small to be of much importan