g Unseen by Ralph, thrust out its head,
opened its beak, and uttered a harsh shrill cry; at which its mate
walked forward to the very edge of the crag, poised there for an
instant, and then, spreading wide wings, launched itself into the
air and sailed swiftly out of sight. It returned, however, in a
few minutes and rejoined its mate on the ledge of rock.

"Old King Eagle," called Ralph, whimsically, knowing well that
his voice would not carry above the roar of the brook, "I wish
you'd tell me where you get all your gold! I believe I'd go digging
with my finger-nails this morning if I only knew where to begin!"

As if in answer to his appeal, one golden feather drifted down and
lay glittering iridescently among the pebbles at his feet.

The lad sprang up with a laugh; then, going down on his knees, he
began to dig at the exact spot on which the feather fell.
Imagination had carried him for the moment to a point of almost
superstitious energy. But the spell passed quickly. With a scornful
laugh, he straightened his lanky form to its full height.

"Gee!" he exclaimed aloud. "I never supposed I could be such a fool!"

A low laugh sounded behind him, startlingly near, and, turning to
glance over his shoulder, he beheld a tall, lean, swarthy young man
dressed in a faded and soiled brown suit, with a soft felt hat pulled
down over his eyes, and leggings like those often worn by woodsmen.

"Seven kinds of a young fool, eh?" remarked the stranger, shifting
a long-handled axe and a heavy wooden mallet which he carried from
his shoulder to the ground. "Well, you ain't no fool, boy, an' I
know it, an' that's why I follered you up this trail. I want ter
have a little confab with you to-day. Know who I am?"

"No, I don't know you," Ralph replied truthfully, "and I can't guess
how you knew I was up here in the hills."

"Your ma told me. I stopped at your shack, about two hours ago,
an' she told me you was out lookin' after your traps. Any luck?"

"Not much." Ralph did not wish the man to observe either the
location of the traps or the valuable mink that dangled from Keno's
saddle. "What did you want to see me for?" he queried, after a
minute's pause, during which he eyed the woodsman quizzically.

"You're Ralph Kenyon, ain't you?" asked the other, evidently in
some doubt.

"Yes. Who are you?"

There was a, blunt directness in Ralph's questions that seemed to
disconcert the man who had expected to meet a rath