hidden but a few minutes before. Why was it that the hounds
followed his trail as they would have followed that of a bear or
deer? Simply because they scented him before they reached the island,
and because Godfrey took so much pains to keep out of their way. Had
he stood out in plain view while the boat was approaching, the hounds
would have paid no attention to him.
"Well, he's gone," said Bert, and the deep sigh that escaped his lips
as he uttered the words would have led one to believe that he was
glad of it, "and now comes the hard work. It's an all-day's job to
build that trap."
"It would be if we had to cut down the trees and trim off the
branches," replied David; "but there is some timber in this
drift-wood that will answer our purpose as well as any we could get
ourselves. Where are you going to build the trap, Don?"
"In there where his den is would be the best place, wouldn't it? Now
let's go after the axes; and while you and Bert are cutting the logs,
I'll unload the boat and open a road through the cane, so that we can
haul our timber in without any difficulty."
The work being thus divided rapid progress was made. By the time Don
had unloaded the boat and cut a path leading from Godfrey's camp to
the upper end of the island, Bert and David had selected and notched
all the logs that were needed for the trap. Then a stout rope, which
Don had been thoughtful enough to put into the boat, was brought into
requisition, and the work of hauling in the logs began. As fast as
they were placed in position, Don fastened them down with the pins he
and his brother had made the night before, and when lunch time came,
a neat log cabin about six feet square was standing in front of
Godfrey's lean-to. With a little "chinking" and the addition of a
door and perhaps a window, it would have made a much more comfortable
place of abode than the miserable bark structure which Godfrey had so
long occupied.
Their hard work had given the boys glorious appetites, and they did
full justice to the good things Mrs. Gordon had put up for them. Don
said their lunch might have been much improved by the addition of one
of the ducks Bert had shot that morning, but their time was much too
precious to be wasted in cooking. The hardest part of their task was
yet to be done, and that was to build a movable roof for their cabin.
Don, who had received explicit instructions from his father the night
before, superintended this work, and by
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