quealing and
growling woefully. Before John could check his laughter, the bear had
picked itself up and trotted swiftly away, and Ree was willing to let it
go unharmed, though he could have shot it.

This incident set the boys to thinking. Bruin evidently knew the smell of
honey better than of sap. All bears delight in sweet things, and Ree said
he had no doubt there were bee trees in the neighborhood. At any rate,
the lads decided, it would be well worth while to be on the lookout for
them as they were about the woods during the spring and summer.

Continued fine weather put an end to the maple season. In a fortnight the
buds began to open on the trees and the flow of sap ceased. About this
time, too, the Portage trail, not far away, was constantly traversed by
redskins, many of them strangers, and there were daily calls at the cabin
of the young Palefaces. So there was much to do; the spring crops must be
planted, the pile of furs must be taken to market and fences must be
completed to keep deer and other animals out of the cornfield they
proposed having.

There was another thing needing early attention, and that was the
securing of land at the junction of the Portage trail and the river. For
the boys could not but see how advantageous that place would be as a
trading point, and they wished to build a new and larger cabin there.
Moreover, as the country was opened up and settled, the land about so
favorable a site for a town would probably become very valuable.

"We will go to see Capt. Pipe to-morrow, and bargain with him for a
canoe, and for some land where the trail and the river meet," said Ree
one warm March night as they sat on the doorstep of their cabin, in the
moonlight.

CHAPTER XVI.

The Hatred of Big Buffalo.

The last of the sap had been reduced to sugar and made into a fine solid
cake weighing nearly two pounds, the night that the foregoing
conversation took place. With this as a present to the chief of the
Delawares, Ree and John set out early the following morning for Capt.
Pipe's town on the lake.

It was a beautiful day. The red buds on the trees were bursting into
green, in places, and in many sunny spots the spring plants and flowers
were shooting forth. All nature seemed to feel the same joy and freedom
the young pioneers felt as they journeyed through the valley and over the
hills toward their destination. Birds were singing on every hand. Crows
were flying here and there and ca