at they were missing. "Some creature has smelled them and
pulled them down, I guess," said he.

"Suppose it was a _deer_?" asked Kate.

"Keep quiet," said Tom. "You've said enough about _deer_."

"If she says _deer_ again, let's tie that green deer hide over her head,
Tom!" exclaimed Willis.

"You will not hear me say anything more, but I shall go on thinking, all
the same," replied Catherine.

Theodora had gone into their cabin, to fetch our tin ware and
frying-pan.

"Why!" she exclaimed, coming hastily out, in some fluster, "almost all
our bread is gone!"

"Then somebody's been here," said Addison, "while we were away."

"Everything in the baskets has been pulled over," said Theodora.

We went to examine and found the baskets had really been disturbed, but
nothing save bread had been removed.

"Some hungry hunter, I guess," said Addison. "Well, I hope it did him
good."

"I reckon there's where the partridges went," said Tom.

"Well, he wasn't a very bad visitor," said Willis, "or he might have
stolen a good deal more."

"Indeed, he might," said Theodora.

"But I wish he had left our bread and butter alone," exclaimed Ellen.
"Who knows how dirty his hands were!"

"This raid cuts our dinner down a little,--losing those partridges,"
said Tom. "So let's have our _venison_ and some eggs fried with it."

But on looking into the basket, all the eggs were found to have
disappeared, save eight!

"Worse and worse!" Addison exclaimed. "We shall have to fall back on
potatoes, and do some good hunting and fishing during the rest of our
stay here."

Tom was already slicing up the rather odd-looking venison, getting it
ready to fry. Addison brought water and put on potatoes to boil; and
Kate declared that she was going to make a dish of Indian meal mush, and
have some of it to fry for breakfast, next morning.

Willis took the gun and slipped away, intending to knock over a few more
partridges, to go with the one he had just shot, across the stream.

Ellen, too, went out to gather hazel nuts.

A dark bank of clouds had risen in the west, and the wind began to blow
a little; it was not quite as pleasant as on the previous evening.

In the course of an hour our dinner was ready. Ellen had gathered a
quart of nuts, and Willis came in with another partridge. It was not a
good night for shooting, he said; and when he went inside our cabin to
set aside the gun, he privately told Addison and me, that he had heard