have none."

"I'll go with you," replied Jerry. "There's a windfall under the roots
of that dead pine tree. It's only half-a-dozen yards from here. Come
on."

The two lads started, taking their guns and the lantern. They crossed
the glade, and vanished in the timber.

Brick was left standing by the fireplace. He was afraid to go after his
companions, nor did he like to be alone. He rested his gun on a stone,
and stooped over the dying embers of the fire, trying vainly to fan them
into a blaze. As he rose to his feet he heard a crackling noise, and was
horrified to see a great, dusky animal crouching on the edge of the
timber, directly opposite the spot where the boys had disappeared.

The beast's arrival was so unexpected that Brick lost his wits. With a
yell he turned and dashed across the glade, and rolled into a copse of
bushes.

There he lay, shouting for help at the top of his voice, and expecting
to be immediately torn to pieces.

Lusty cries quickly answered him, and trampling footsteps came near. He
saw the gleam of the lantern go by, and then a rifle cracked sharply.
The next thing he knew Jerry and Hamp were hauling him to his feet.

"Where's the catamount?" he panted. "Did you kill it?"

"Missed," replied Jerry. "I only had a snap shot. The creature bolted
into the forest when it saw the lantern. We didn't get here any too
soon."

"I thought I was a goner," declared Brick.

His face was pale, and he trembled like a leaf.

Hamp had a great load of wood on his back, and the fire was soon blazing
merrily.

The catamount made no sign for ten minutes, and then a wailing cry from
far off told that he was retreating.

After waiting a little longer the boys went back to their warm blankets
and pine boughs.

They fell asleep very quickly, and it was broad daylight when they got
awake. The sun was behind murky gray clouds, and the air was bitterly
cold. The snow crunched sharply under foot, and the lake was frozen from
shore to shore.

The presence of the catamount in the vicinity decided the boys to hunt a
new camping-place.

After breakfasting on bacon and fried potatoes, they packed the sleds
and started.

They traveled northward over the ice, following all the bays and
indentations of the lake's crooked shore. At noon they stopped for
lunch. The cold was something awful.

"It looks as though we were going to have a hard winter," said Jerry
when they were on the march again. "It's a good th