icy bear meat.

Then they lay down and slept, as if they were at home and not in the
Indian infested woods.

Yet they were safe, for the good Lord to whom they commended themselves
before falling asleep, watched over them, better than they knew.

CHAPTER XI

BACK AGAIN AND AGNES

"Don't bother me," said Fred half awake; "it's not time for breakfast;
just let me sleep a little more."

Matthew pinched his nose so that he could not breathe, and this brought
Fred to his feet.

"Oh, I clean forgot!" he said laughing. "My, but that sleep was good!
What time of the day is it anyway? We must have slept all day."

They looked to the sky, though the huge trees were much in their way,
and noticed that the sun was far in the west.

"We are great heroes," Fred said laughing; "we sleep while the enemy is
around us. Let us go."

The boys were in high spirits, and thanked God heartily for having
preserved them so wonderfully.

"Who knows what was going on around us while we slept?" Matthew
reflected. "Perhaps the Indians were in our vicinity, and we were
shielded from their view. We have much to be grateful for."

"If only I knew where Agnes is!" Fred said; "she is a bright girl, and
if they don't take better care of her than they did of me, I fear that
she will escape them. She is as spry as a squirrel."

"We must find her," Matthew urged eagerly; "but where shall we go? I
must confess that I am completely bewildered. Why, even that sun has
turned. Before it was in the west, and now it is in the north. What's
happening to me?"

"You need some more bear's meat," Fred said; "you are starved. So let
us first eat and then think."

After eating a little of the meat, they found themselves wonderfully
refreshed. A little brook furnished them a cool, welcome drink, and
with renewed spirits they set forth on their trip. They walked all day
and long after the sun had set, they were still groping in the dark.

"This will never do," Matthew finally said; "we are getting nowhere."

"You are right," Fred answered; "as long as the sun was shining, I knew
the way, but now I am completely lost. We better lie down and sleep
until it is day. Then we can see where we are."

They prayed still more fervently than they had done before, for their
strength was exhausted and they were bewildered.

"If the Lord will not help us out of this," Matthew said, "we are
completely lost."

"The greater the need, the nea