e was another reason why he wished to camp by the lake. He
correctly surmised that the food supply at the settlement was getting
low. The men were not hunters, and although supplied with guns, they
had made little use of them in obtaining game from the surrounding
hills, considering them chiefly as weapons of defence in case of
attack. With Dane, however, it was different. To him the forests and
streams were Nature's great larder, filled with all manner of good
things.

As he lay there thinking of the girl at the settlement, the morning
light strengthened, and the trees along the eastern shore threw out
long uneven shadows upon the water. Not a ripple ruffled the
mirror-like surface, except those caused by the feeding ducks. Dane's
special attention was directed to a spot on the western shore which he
had carefully examined the day before. From the newly-made foot-prints
he knew that this was a favourite resort of moose, deer, and caribou
where they came to drink and to wallow in the mud. And in this he was
not mistaken, for as he patiently waited, the great antlered-head of a
bull moose suddenly emerged from the forest. The lordly animal paused
for a few seconds and looked around. Dane was fully alert now. With
his gun resting across a fallen log, he trained his eye along the
smooth dark barrel. Then as the moose stepped forward and its right
side was presented to view, he pulled the trigger. The loud report
resounded through the silent forest reaches, and sent the ducks
scurrying wildly out of the water. With a snort of pain and surprise
the moose threw back its great head, lifted its fore feet from the
ground, reeled for an instant, and crashed over on its side, a huge
bulk of quivering, lifeless flesh.

Half an hour later Dane was speeding toward the settlement, carrying a
choice piece of meat suspended from a stout stick across his right
shoulder. He surprised Mammy in the act of preparing the fire for
breakfast as he approached with noiseless steps, and held the meat
before her.

"Oh, Lo'd, how yo' did scare me!" she exclaimed, straightening herself
up, and looking at the young man. "I'se as weak as a chicken, an' my
bref's almos' gone. I was sure yo' was an Injun or a tager jumpin' at
me."

Dane smiled as he laid the meat upon a log, and drew forth his sharp
sheath knife.

"I am sorry I frightened you," he apologised. "But a piece of this
will give you new strength. You get the frying-pa