scattered farmhouses at the top of the hill that
sloped down to the cove of the bay, but back of the farmlands lay a
long stretch of forest. The ground was covered with a carpet of wild
flowers and a few late violets.

Once the chums were fairly in the heart of the woods they did not meet
another traveler. They seemed to have the forest to themselves. They
had no thought of danger in the quiet woods, and Madge and Eleanor, who
had been brought up in the country, were careful to watch the paths
they followed.

They had been in the woods for an hour or more when Lillian, who was
stooping over a clump of big, purple violets, thought she heard a
peculiar sound resembling light footsteps, Whether there was a human
being or an animal near them she could not tell. The footsteps would
run rapidly and then stop abruptly.

"Phil," called Lillian, "I thought I heard something. Did you? Listen
once more. There, did you hear that?"

Phil listened. "Not a sound, Airy Fairy Lillian. It must have been
your fancy."

But Lillian was not convinced. Several times she believed she heard
the noise again. However, she did not mention it.

As the girls came out of the woods to a little clearing Phil, who was
in the lead, ran forward. "Madge, Eleanor," she called, "come here,
quick! I am sure this must be a regular, old-time log cabin."

Before them the girls saw an old cabin that looked as though it had
been empty for a quarter of a century. It was strongly built of logs,
and the chinks between the logs were filled with mud that had hardened
like plaster. There were no windows in the cabin, except in the eaves.
The heavy door was half open, but it had an old-fashioned wooden latch
on the outside.

"The old cabin looks rather creepy, doesn't it, Madge?" asked Eleanor.
"It is built more securely than our cabins farther down south, too.
This place seems more like a prison."

"It looks interesting. Let's go in to see it." Phil suggested.

The cabin stood in front of a stream of clear water. Close around it
grew a number of dark old cedar trees.

Phil and Madge shoved open the heavy door. Inside, the one large room
looked gray and dark, as the only light came from the two small windows
so far overhead.

"I would rather not go in, Madge," protested Eleanor, hesitating on the
threshold after Lillian had followed the other two girls inside.

"Don't be a baby, Eleanor," scolded Madge. "There is nothing to hurt
you."