her chance to steal any
of my money, and I think you will believe it now. Good-night, and
pleasant dreams to you; that is, if you can sleep after such a
performance."

Dan could sleep, and he did, too, after he got over his rage, but
his night's rest did not seem to refresh him much, for he was cross
and sullen the next morning, and ate his breakfast without saying a
word to anybody. David was as bright as a lark; and after he had
assisted his mother in her household duties, he took down his rusty
old single-barrel from the pegs over the fireplace, slung on his
powder-horn and shot-pouch, and when his mother was ready to go, he
accompanied her down the road toward General Gordon's, leaving Dan
sitting on the bench, moody and thoughtful.

"They don't take no more notice of me nor if I was a yaller dog or a
crooked stick," growled Dan, when he found himself alone. "I'll pay
'em fur it by kickin' up a wusser row nor pap done 'bout that thar
bar'l, an' I shan't be long a doin' of it nuther!"

Mrs. Evans and David separated at the forks of the road, the former
directing her course toward the house of the neighbor by whom she was
employed, and David hurrying on toward General Gordon's. When he
reached the head of the lake he heard a loud shout; and looking in
the direction from which it came, he saw Don and Bert standing on the
wharf beckoning to him. David ran across the garden to join the
brothers, and found that they were all ready to start on the hunt
they had planned the day before. A well-filled basket, which David
knew contained a substantial lunch, stood on the wharf, and near it
lay the General's heavy double-barrel gun, which Bert had borrowed
for the occasion, knowing that it would throw buck-shot with more
force than his light bird gun. Bert was unfastening the canoe, and
Don stood close by, with his trusty rifle in one hand and an axe in
the other. Two other axes lay near the lunch basket, and a couple of
Don's best hounds stood as close to the edge of the wharf as they
could get, wagging their tails vigorously and whining with
impatience.

These hounds were large and powerful animals, and their courage
had been tested in more than one desperate bear fight. If they had
been with their master when he visited the island the day before,
something disagreeable might have happened. Godfrey Evans could not
have driven them away by imitating the growl of a wild animal. They
welcomed the newcomer with their bugle-l