of all. He had discovered a salt spring only a short distance away,
and with labor they were able to boil out the salt which was invaluable
to them in curing their food supply.

"Now, if we had bread, we'd be entirely happy," said Paul.

"Shucks, Paul," said Shif'less Sol with asperity, "you're entirely happy
ez it is. Never ask too much an' then you won't git too little. This
splendid, magnificent swamp o' ourn furnishes everythin' any reasonin'
human bein' could want."

Henry shot another black bear, very small but quite fat and tender, and
he was quickly added to their store. More wild ducks and wild geese were
caught in the snares, and they had now been on the oasis more than a
week without the slightest sign from their foes. Danger seemed so far
away that it could never come near, and they enjoyed the interval of
peace and quiet, devoted to the homely business of mere living.

Then came a day when great mists and vapors rose from the swamp, and the
air grew heavy. Everything turned to a sullen, leaden color. Henry
glanced at their hut.

"We have built in time," he said. "All this heaviness and cloudiness
foretells a storm and I think we'll sleep under a roof tonight. What say
you, Sol?"

"I shorely will, Henry. Them that wants to lay on the ground, an' take a
wettin' kin take it, but, ez fur me, a floor, a roof an' four walls is
jest what I want."

"Everybody will agree with you on that," said Paul.

No one spoke again for a long time. Meanwhile the vapors and mists
thickened and the skies became almost as black as night. The whole
swamp, save the little island on which they sat, was lost in the dusk,
and a wind, heavy with damp, came moaning out of the vast wilderness.
Thunder rumbled on the horizon, then cracked directly overhead, and
flashes of lightning cut the blackness.

The five retreated to their hut, and, with a mighty rushing of wind and
a great sweep of rain, the storm burst over the oasis.

CHAPTER VII

INTO THE NORTH

When the wilderness was under the beat of wind or rain or hail or snow
Henry and Paul, if sheltered well, never failed to feel an increase of
comfort, even of luxury. The contrast between the storm without and the
dryness within gave an elemental feeling of relaxation and content that
nothing else could supply. It had been so at the rocky hollow, and it
was so here.

Their first anxiety had been for the little house. Being built of poles
and bark it quivered and