over them. The next moment, they had leaped to
their feet, and scrambled into the shelter of trees and brush.

"Well, boys, we're in for it now," said Donald cheerfully, happier
now that battle offered than he had been for many weeks. "They've
got us at a disadvantage, and the odds are four to one, so every
shot must count."

"Right-o!" rejoined Timmins, and fell to whistling through his back
teeth, a sure sign with him of complete satisfaction.

Then began a grilling wait. Occasionally, a dark form would appear
among the trees, speeding from shelter to shelter, and the guns of
the besieged would ring out sharply into the still air. More than
once, the bullets went home, and the runner leaped into the air
with a yell, and rolled over and over upon the snow.

"They're surrounding us," said Donald calmly. "I hate to do it,
but we'll have to use these furs after all, and a fur with a bullet
hole in it isn't worth anything."

He called for volunteers to help him arrange the protection, and,
when everyone spoke, told off alternate men to keep the enemy
covered while the others worked. The bales of pelts were frozen
into the rigidity of iron, and would form an excellent defense,
but they were not now in the proper position for this. It was
necessary for the men to crawl out over the low line that lay to
their rear, and lift other bales back into the "trench" that was
formed by the log barricade.

The free-traders in the woods were aware of this necessity for
exposure, and waited until a man started on his venturesome journey.
Then, they all blazed away at once. McTavish was the first to expose
himself. He returned with a bullet hole in his cap, and minus a
generous share of one boot-heel. Then, strategy was resorted to.
A man would make a feint of rushing from cover. Instantly, the
heads of the men in the woods would appear, lying along their
gun-barrels, and, in the same instant, the bullets from the barricade
would fly thick. After one such feint, three of the enemy did not
reappear, and then the foe began to grow cautious, never knowing
when the appearance of a head out of the trench meant a feint or
an expedition.

It was impossible that such hazardous work should not have tragic
results. Trip after trip, Donald made without harm, but his men
were not so fortunate. One was killed outright, and another, game
to the last, threw himself back among his companions, coughing
blood from a bullet hole in the lung, but