covered with a rifle when I felt that thump, and for a
minute I thought it was another one of 'em who had stolen up behind me
and got me foul, I'm certainly glad it was only a dream."

Everybody laughed. Upton meanwhile had hung a kettle of soup over the
fire and was setting a couple of places at the table for the two
trappers, knowing that they must be hungry after their long tramp. "Now
tell us about it," he commanded when they had had a chance to dispose of
the soup and a big slab of corn bread.

"There isn't much to tell," began Pat. "We found their camp and watched
it for a while and then came back."

"So simple," murmured Hal. "'We found their camp.' I suppose you shut
your eyes and let a good fairy take you by the hands and lead you
straight to it! It's a wonder you haven't been over to make a friendly
call before, seeing it is so handy and easily found."

There was no mistaking the sarcasm in Hal's voice, and Pat laughed
aloud. "'Twas no fairy led us to ut, me bye, but just common woods sense
and me partner's knowledge av the counthry." Then dropping his brogue he
continued: "You know enough about camping to know that one of the first
and most important things to look out for in locating a camp is a good
water supply. Alec knows every good spring for twenty miles around.
Having made up our minds that the camp was within five miles Alec just
ran over in his mind the likely springs within that distance and the lay
of the land. The fact that those bloody-minded thieves have been working
our long trap lines was a pretty good indication that their camp lay
somewhere handy to these. That narrowed it down to two springs, the
first of which is at the head of a little draw which makes in to the
north about four miles west of here just before our line swings north.
The second is in a draw which makes in to the south of a pond about a
mile farther on and somewhat off our trap line. We made straight for
the first one and found nothing there. Then we cut across to the second
and as soon as we were in the draw we knew that we were on the right
track."

"How?" interrupted Hal eagerly.

"The smell of wood-smoke," replied Pat. "We worked around to the spring,
mighty careful to keep under cover and make no noise, expecting to find
the camp right there, but there wasn't a thing to be seen. Then we
followed our noses up wind over a little rise and there in the middle of
a clump of spruce was the cabin, pretty near buried in s