that of the recent tempest. It was not the first
seizure of the kind, which he had had, though neither of these others
knew it; and the fact added a deeper gravity to his always thoughtful
manner.

"I am most thankful that you were not here; but where could you have
been to escape it?"

"All day in the long cave. To the very end of it I believe, and see! I
found these. They are like the specimens you brought the other day.
They must be some rich metal."

"In the long cave, you? Alone? All day? Margot, Margot, is not the
glass enough? but you must tempt worse luck by goin' there!" cried
Angelique, who had preceded the others on the path, but now faced
about, trembling indignantly. What foolish creature was this who
would pass a whole day in that haunted spot, in spite of the dreadful
tales that had been told of it. "Pouf! But I wear out my poor brain,
everlastin' to study the charms will save you from evil, me. And
yet----"

"You would do well to use some of your charms on Tom, yonder. He's
found an overturned coop and looks too happy to be out of mischief."

The woman wheeled again and was off up the slope like a flash, where
presently the king of birds was treated to the indignity of a sound
boxing, which he resented with squawks and screeches, but not with
talons, since under each foot he held the plump body of a fat chicken.

"Tom thinks a bird in the hand is worth a score of cuffs! and
Angelique's so determined to have somebody die--I hope it won't be
Tom. A pity, though, that harm should have happened to her own pets.
Hark! What is that?"

"Some poor woodland creature in distress. The storm----"

"That's no sound belonging to the forest. But it is--distress!"

CHAPTER III

AN ESTRAY FROM CIVILIZATION

They paused by the cabin door, left open by Angelique, and listened
intently. She, too, had caught the alien sound, the faint, appealing
halloo of a human voice--the rarest of all cries in that wilderness.
Even the eagle's screeches could not drown it, but she had had enough
of anxieties for one day. Let other people look out for themselves;
her precious ones should not stir afield again, no, not for anything.
Let the evil bird devour the dead chickens, if he must, her place was
in the cabin, and she rushed back down the slope, fairly forcing the
others inward from the threshold where they hesitated.

"'Tis a loon. You should know that, I think, and that they're always
cryin' fit to scare the d