rought up for discussion. Bert acted as
spokesman, and when he told how the hounds had driven the bear from
his den and forced him to swim the bayou, Don was surprised to see
that his father smiled as if he did not quite believe it. "It's the
truth, every word of it," said Don, almost indignantly.

"O, I don't doubt that you found something on the island and drove it
off," replied the General, "but I don't think it was a bear."

"What was it?" asked Don.

"It was something you will not be likely to catch in your trap. It
was Godfrey Evans."

Don dropped his knife and fork, and settled back in his chair. "We
saw tracks in the mud that did not look to me like bear tracks,
that's a fact," said he. "If that was Godfrey, he's the one who stole
our canoe."

"Then we have had all our trouble for nothing," said Bert.

"Perhaps not," replied his father. "The island has been much
frequented by bears ever since I can remember, and it may be that
your labor will be rewarded in a day or two. It might be well for you
to watch your trap at any rate. If you should happen to catch a young
bear, that you could bring home alive, Silas Jones would give you
twenty dollars for it. That would be a big addition to David's little
capital, for of course you wouldn't want any of the money."

"Of course not. All we want is the fun of catching the bear."

Don and Bert were up the next morning before the sun, as they always
were, and as soon as they were dressed, they went out to the shop and
found David there busy with his traps. He knew where the key was
kept, under the door-step, and at the first peep of day he had let
himself in and gone to work. Of course the first questions that were
asked and answered were in regard to the missing pointer, but no one
had seen or heard anything of him. David seemed to take the loss very
much to heart. The animal was a valuable one, and he felt that he was
in some degree responsible for his safe-keeping.

Three pairs of willing hands made light work, and by two o'clock in
the afternoon a dozen traps were completed and ready for setting. The
boys then stopped long enough to take a hasty lunch, which they ate
in the shop, in order to save time, and after that one of the mules
was hitched to a wagon and brought before the door. The traps, a
basket containing the "figure fours," with which they were to be
set, a bag of corn for bait, an axe, with which to clear away the
underbrush, and a spade to dig the