t."

The shot was followed in a few moments by a shout of triumph, and Henry
and Sol emerged from the swamp carrying between them a small but very
fat black bear.

"Thar's rations fur some time to come," said Long Jim. "I guess he wuz
huntin' berries in the swamp when Sol or Henry picked him off, an' I'm
shore thar'll be more uv the same kind. It begins to look like a mighty
fine swamp to me."

It was the shiftless one who had shot the bear, and he was proud of his
triumph, as he had a right to be, having secured such a supply of good
food, because there was nothing better that the forest furnished than
fat young bear. It did not take experts, such as they, long to clean the
bear, and cut its flesh into strips for drying.

"I think our snares will hold something in the morning," said Henry,
"and that will be a big help, too. What was it you said about the swamp,
Jim?"

"I said it wuz gittin' to be a mighty fine swamp. First time I saw it I
thought it wuz an ugly place, ugliest I ever seed, but now it's growin'
plum' beautiful. Reckon it's the safest place now in all the wilderness.
Knowin' that, helps it a lot, an' its yieldin' up good food helps it
more. The sun is gildin' the trees, an' the bushes an' the mud an' the
water a heap, an' all them things don't hurt my eyes when they linger on
'em."

"Jim is turnin' into a poet," said the shiftless one, "but I reckon he
hez cause. I'm gittin' to feel 'bout the swamp jest ez he does. It's a
splendid place, jest full o' beauty!"

They slept under the trees again, putting the strips of bear meat in the
house to secure them from marauders of the air, and awoke the next
morning to find the swamp still improving. Powerful factors in the
improvement were two ducks and a fat wild goose caught in the snares,
and, with more fish from Silent Tom, they had a variety for breakfast.

"I jest love wild goose," said Shif'less Sol, "speshully when it's fat
an' tender, an' I'm thinkin' this swamp is a good place for wild geese.
When we come in here we didn't think what a fine home we wuz findin'.
Since the tribes an' the renegades have sworn to wipe us out, an' we're
hid here so snug an' so tight, I don't keer how long I stay."

"Nor me either," said Long Jim. "This o-sis makes me think sure uv that
island in the lake on which we stayed once, but it's safer here. Nothin'
but the longest kind uv chance would make the warriors find us."

"That's true," said Henry thoughtfully. "We