aid Sneak; "but I'll swear I felt my
knife grit agin his neck-bone."

Joe did not desire to pursue the subject any further, and they
proceeded on their way in silence, ever and anon breaking through the
snow-crust. The atmosphere became still more temperate when the bright
sun beamed over the horizon. Drops of water trickled down from the
snow-covered branches of the trees, and a few birds flitted overhead,
and uttered imperfect lays.

"Here we are," said Sneak, halting in the midst of a clump of enormous
sycamore trees, over whose roots a sparkling rivulet glided with a
gurgling sound.

"I know we're here," said Joe; "but what are you stopping _here_ for?"

"Here's where I live," replied Sneak, with a comical smile playing on
his lips.

"But where's your house?" asked Joe.

"Didn't I say you couldn't find it, even if you was to rub your back
agin it?"

"I know I'm not rubbing against your house now," replied Joe, turning
round and looking up in the huge tree he had been leaning against.

"But you have been leaning agin my house," continued Sneak, amused at
the incredulous face of his companion.

"I know better," persisted Joe; "this big sycamore is the only thing
I've leant against since we started."

"Jest foller me, and I'll show you something," said Sneak, stepping
round to the opposite side of the tree, where the ascent on the north
rose abruptly from the roots. Here he removed a thin flat stone of
about four feet in height, that stood in a vertical position against
the tree.

"You don't live in there, Sneak, surely; why that looks like a wolf's
den," said Joe, perceiving a dark yawning aperture, and that the
immense tree was but a mere shell.

"Keep at my heels," said Sneak, stooping down and crawling into the
tree.

"I'd rather not," said Joe; "there may be a bear in it."

Soon a clicking sound was heard within, and the next moment Joe
perceived the flickering rays of a small lamp that Sneak held in his
hand, illuminating the sombre recesses of the novel habitation.

"Why don't you come in?" asked Sneak.

"Sneak, how do you know there ain't a bear up in the hollow?" asked
Joe, crawling in timidly and endeavouring to peer through the darkness
far above, where even the rays of the lamp could not penetrate.

"I wonder if you think I'd let a bear sleep in my house," continued
Sneak, searching among a number of boxes and rude shelves, to see if
any thing had been molested during his absence. Fin