found a chill creeping over him. He hurried to Barbara's fire for some
coffee and a few mouthfuls of greatly needed food. There for the first
time he saw what Barbara's promised dinner was to be. The two separated
halves of a dressed hog hung before and partly over the fire, roasting.

"Where on earth did you get that?" he asked in astonishment.

"Bob got it last night," she answered, "and dressed it himself."

"But where, and how?"

"I don't know yet. He laughs when I ask questions. I'm sorely afraid
Bob stole the hog from some farmer. I sent him out with some money to
buy whatever meat he could find, for I saw that the men must have
substantial food. He came back about daylight, and told me he had a
dressed hog 'out dar in de bushes.' He gave me back all the money I had
given him, and, as I say, he simply laughs when I ask questions. I'll
make him tell me all about it this afternoon. If he stole the hog, we
can pay for it. And meanwhile the men shall have their dinner. How is
the work getting on?"

"Rapidly--but not rapidly enough, I fear. I must hurry back now."

"I'll go with you," said the girl. "Bob can watch the roasting," for Bob
had reappeared at the fire.

"But you can't go with me," replied Duncan. "The water's knee deep, and
more, between here and the crib."

"It can't make me any wetter than I am now," replied the resolute girl,
as she set off in Duncan's company.

At the crib she studied the situation critically. She knew nothing of
engineering, of course, but she had an abundance of practical common
sense, and in most of the affairs of this life, common sense goes a long
way as a substitute for skill.

"What time is it now?" she asked, after she had watched the slow
progress of the work long enough to estimate the prospect.

"Half past ten."

"Then we've only an hour and a half more. It isn't enough. You can never
fill that hole in time."

"I'm afraid we can't. I'm afraid we've lost in the struggle."

"Oh, no, you mustn't feel that way. We simply must win this battle. If
we can't do it in one way, we must find another."

Duncan made no answer. There seemed to him no answer to be made. The
girl continued to look about her. After a while she asked:

"Is the end of the crib at the county line?"

"Yes--or rather the line lies a little way this side of the end of the
crib."

Again she remained silent for a time, before saying:

"There are two big tree trunks lying longways there in the