their automatics.

They crossed the morass to the higher ground beyond and passed
along in the direction of the camp. There might be duck over Moose
river, Thede suggested, and Tommy certainly would want a duck for
his stew. Also there might be wild geese there.

When they came to the place where the provisions had been cached,
they found the surface of the ground broken and the provisions
gone. Not a single can remained.

"Now, we'll have to shoot all the more game," declared Tommy. "We
haven't got many beans or tomatoes left, so we'll have to forage on
the country."

The loss was not considered a serious one, for the boys had plenty
of provisions at the cabin and game was very plentiful.

As they passed through the country signs of the wild creatures of
the woods were numerous. There were few spaces of a length of
twenty-five feet in which the track of some wild beast or bird did
not cross their path.

Thede read this writing in the snow so understandingly that the
boys actually paid more attention to his explanations than to the
discovery of the game he was talking about.

"What crossed there?" Will would ask.

"That must have been a red deer!"

"And this track, here?" asked Tommy.

"Probably a fox."

"Well, what do you make of this?" Will demanded with a wink at
Tommy.

"That must have been a moose, but he passed here some time before
the last fall of snow!" replied Thede.

"Well, what's this wobbly little mark here?" Tommy asked.

"Partridge!" replied Thede readily.

"Well, here's another odd little mark. Looks like some one had
been dragging a rail fence. What's that?"

"You ought to know that!" answered Thede.

"I ought to know lots of things that I don't know!" commented the
boy.

"Well," Thede said with a laugh, "the wild animal that passed along
there was a Beaver!"

"I wonder if he belongs to our patrol!" chuckled Tommy.

"I should think the little fellow would freeze to death," Will
objected.

"Pierre said it was pretty cold for them to be out when he saw
tracks two or three days ago!" replied Thede. "They're building a
dam over on the river some place, and I suppose they think they've
got to finish the job before real winter sets in."

After a long ramble through the forest, the boys came to the site
of the old camp. The snow which covered the ground here had been
well trodden down, and many tracks led in the direction of Moose
river.

"I suppose they've been hunti