ds, help me put the boat in the water, and I'll pull over to the
Duck's Head for Mother and Vi'let and the cargo," said Skipper Zeb.
"Whilst I'm gone, Toby, put on a fire and make the house snug."

Charley and Toby helped Skipper Zeb launch a boat, which was drawn up
upon the beach below the cabin, and when he had set out for the Duck's
Head, the boys returned to the cabin, and Toby kindled a fire in a big
oblong box stove.

It was a small cabin, but snug and homelike, and much more comfortable
than the one they had left at Pinch-In Tickle. There was no covering
upon the floor, but the boards were white and clean with much scrubbing.
Sections of old newspapers and picture pages from old magazines were
pasted upon the log walls, and completely covered them. These kept out
no small degree of winter wind and cold, and at the same time did duty
as decorations. Charley observed with interest several guns resting
upon the beams overhead.

There were no chairs in the room, and storage chests served as seats. A
table occupied the center of the room, and this had doubtless been built
by Skipper Zeb himself. Against the side wall was a shelf upon which
stood a silent clock. At one side of the clock was a small Bible, at the
other a candlestick. A bed built against a corner of the room and a dish
closet completed its furnishings.

A partition across the rear of the cabin formed a second room, and built
against the wall, one at each end of this room, were two beds similar to
that in the living-room.

"I sleeps in this un in the big room, and you'll be sleepin' with me,"
Toby advised. "Mother and Dad and Violet sleeps in the beds in the back
room."

The rear of the entrance porch was piled with firewood ready for the
stove, ranked in tiers which reached nearly to the roof, while upon the
walls in front hung dog harness, several pairs of snowshoes, traps and
other gear incident to a hunter's life.

Primitive and crude as was the cabin, it appealed to Charley, doubtless
in contrast to his recent experiences, as most comfortable and
homelike. This feeling of comfort increased when Toby wound the clock,
and it began ticking its welcome.

Toby was quite excited at his return to his winter home. He must needs
see and show Charley everything inside and outside the cabin, and
Charley was interested in all he saw, but most of all in the big, broad
snowshoes and the dog harness.

"Where are the dogs?" Charley asked.

"We leaves u