dmitted. And the man found their gaze
a bit disconcerting, it was evident, for he shifted uneasily, first on
one big-booted foot, and then on the other.

"Well, be you goin' t' git?" he finally asked. "I tell you this is
private land, and Mr. Jallow don't allow nobody on it 'ceptin' them he
hires."

This gave Mollie an opening.

"Oh, is this Mr. Jallow's land?" she asked, and her chums wondered at
the sweetness of her tones.

"It be," the burly guard replied, "an' you'd better git off."

The dog growled, and looked up inquiringly at his master as though
asking for orders.

"We--we know Mr. Jallow," went on Mollie. Then nudging Grace, she
whispered: "Say something; can't you? This must be the piece your father
is having trouble about. Say something."

"I--I don't know what to say," faltered Grace. "Oh, let's get away from
here! That dog----"

The animal growled, as though resenting the tone in which Grace talked
about him.

"Do come," urged Amy. "I'm all in a tremble. The woods are big enough
without getting on this disputed land."

"I tell you you'd better go!" insisted the guardian of the forest. "I'm
supposed to keep trespassers off, an' I'm goin' t' do it, too!"
Evidently he did not like the looks of the girls whispering together.
Perhaps he may have imagined that there was a conspiracy to kidnap him
and take possession of the property in dispute. He moved nearer to the
girls, the dog following him.

Grace uttered a little cry.

"Now I ain't a-goin' fer t' hurt ye!" exclaimed the man, "an' I don't
want t' be no harsher than I have t' be, but you folks must move back,
else I'll have t' make ye go. I'm on guard here, and----"

"Oh, we'll go," said Betty quickly, "but I don't see what harm we were
doing. The woods seem all alike to me."

"Well, mebbe ye wasn't doin' no particular harm," admitted the man in
surly tones, "but my orders is to keep trespassers off, an' I'm goin' t'
do it!"

"It's hard to tell where Mr. Ford's land ends and Mr. Jallow's begins,"
said Mollie, looking for some sign of a boundary mark. The man started.

"Be you folks from Ford's camp?" he asked, quickly.

"Yes," said Grace, taking heart, perhaps, at the mention of her father's
name. "I am Miss Ford."

"Well, I'm sorry, but now you'll have to go quicker than if you was some
one else!" said the man firmly. "I thought you was jest ordinary folks,
but I've got very strict orders not to let Mr. Ford nor nobody who
represents