smoke for Indian signaling."

"Thank you. I had not thought of the smoke," answered Grace. "How shall
I stop its smoking?"

"Pour water on it till it's out, then build a new fire. Never mind. Too
late now. The damage's done, and a little smoke more or less won't
matter no how."

Breakfast, noon breakfast, proved to be so satisfying that no one felt
inclined to pack up and move on.

"Girls, what do you say to the suggestion that we make camp here until
some time to-morrow?" questioned Anne. "We are in no hurry, except that
we do not wish to be overtaken by Peg Tatem's gang, which, it doesn't
seem probable that we shall be."

"Yes! Stay!" cried the Overlanders.

"Is that satisfactory to you, Mrs. Shafto?" asked Grace, turning to the
guide.

"I kin stand it if ye kin."

"We stay," announced Grace. "Let's build our sheds after we have settled
our breakfasts and are able to summon some ambition."

Their sleeping quarters were finished before dark, and then the girls
rambled along the river, here and there startling a buck or a doe into
sudden flight. There were no man-made trails here, no sounds other than
the murmuring waters of the Little Big Branch and the voices of nature,
to which Emma Dean listened, nodded or shook her head as if she and
those voices were holding converse. The laughing teasing of her
companions failed to swerve Emma from her newfound hobby.

That night, as they snuggled under their blankets, clear and cold out of
the silence pealed a mournful howl, long-drawn, strange and full of the
wild.

Nora and Anne buried their heads under the blankets to shut out the
sound.

"What was that?" cried Elfreda.

"A wolf--an old she timber wolf--a varmint," answered the forest woman
from her lean-to.

"And it bids us beware of perils near at hand," droned Emma in a
far-away voice.

"Will you stop that?" demanded Elfreda. "You give me the creeps."

"I think it is perfectly wonderful," breathed Emma. Then with greater
emphasis she exclaimed, "Such a voice in the wilderness is an
inspiration. How I wish Madam Gersdorff might be here to hear it. Girls,
you don't know, you cannot dream what a wonderful woman she is."

"I'd like to see _anybody_ dream with you setting up such a chatter,"
complained Anne.

"Please, please, Emma, let the wolves howl if they wish. We can't stop
them, but that is no reason why you should keep us all awake. We need
sleep," begged Grace Harlowe laughingly.

After a fe