ld not continue their search or speak freely of it.

The next morning the strangers said nothing about moving on. They sat
about the fire, and evading a suggestion that they help to cut wood,
played cards nearly all day.

"What's the matter with them? Are they going to stay here all winter?"
said Fred, in great irritation.

Certainly the dogs needed no more rest. They pervaded the place,
trying to bolt into the warm cabin whenever the door was opened, and
spending much time in leaping vainly but hopefully at the frozen
carcass of the deer, swung high on a bough in the open air.

The prodigious appetites of the newcomers had not diminished in the
least, and the carcass was rapidly growing less. The boys thought that
at the least their guests might help replenish the larder, and the next
morning Macgregor proposed that they all go after deer.

"No good to-day," said Mitchell gruffly. "Snow's coming. You boys go
if you want to. We'll mind camp."

That was the last straw; there was no sign whatever of storm. Peter
went out of the cabin to consult with his friends.

"They think we're greenhorns from the city, and they're trying to
impose on us!" he said angrily. "If they don't make a move by
to-morrow morning, I'll give them a pretty strong hint."

All the same, fresh meat had to be procured, and after dinner Macgregor
and Maurice took the two rifles and went back to the deer yard to see
if the herd might not have returned. Fred stayed to watch, for the
boys disliked to leave their guests alone.

The quartette were playing cards as usual, and Fred presently began to
feel lonely. After hanging about the hut for a time, he went out to
pass the time in cutting wood.

It was very cold, but he much preferred the outer air to the smoky
atmosphere of the shack, and he soon grew warm in handling the axe. He
spent nearly the whole afternoon at this exercise, and it was after
four o'clock when he finally reentered the cabin.

He opened the door rather quietly, and was astounded at what he saw.

The card game had been abandoned. The shanty was in a state of
confusion and disorder. Blankets and bedding were strewn pell-mell;
the contents of the dunnage sacks were tossed upon the floor.
Everything movable in the place seemed to have been moved, and a great
part of the moss chinking had been torn from one of the walls, as if a
hurried and desperate search had been made for something.

And the object of the sea