ned. It gave him a fleeting touch of home, and
he could imagine once more, and, for a few seconds, that he was not
alone on the island, but back in his province of New York, with his
friends not far away.

Then came several days of fierce and continuous cold rain, but he put on
an oilskin coat that he found among the stores and spent much of the
time out of doors, hunting ducks along the edges of the larger lake,
walking now and then for the sake of walking, and, on rare occasions,
seeking the wild cattle for fresh meat. The herds were in the timber
most of the time for shelter, but he was invariably able to secure a
tender cow or a yearling for his larder. He saw the big bull often, and,
although he was charged by him once again, he refused to pull trigger on
the old fellow. He preferred to look upon him as a friend whom he had
met once in worthy combat, but with whom he was now at peace. When the
bull charged him he dodged him easily among the bushes and called out
whimsically:

"Let it be the last time! I don't mean you any harm!"

The fierce leader went peacefully back to his grazing, and it seemed to
Robert that he had been taken at his word. The old bull apparently
realized at last that he was in no danger from the human being who came
to look at him at times, and he also was willing to call a truce. Robert
saw him often after that, and invariably hailed him with words of
friendship, though at a respectful distance. The old fellow would look
up, shake his big head once or twice in a manner not at all hostile, and
then go on peacefully with his grazing. It pleased Robert to think that
in the absence of his own kind he had a friend here, and--still at a
respectful distance--he confided to him some of his opinions upon
matters of importance. He laughed at himself for doing so, but he was
aware that he found in it a certain relief, and he continued the
practice.

The dinghy became one of his most precious possessions. A little farther
to the north he had found a creek that flowed down from the center of
the island, rising among the hills. It was narrow and shallow, except
near the mouth, but there it had sufficient depth for the boat, and he
made of it a safe anchorage and port during the winter storms. He slept
more easily now, as he knew that however hard the wind might blow there
was no danger of its being carried out to sea. He thought several times
of rigging a mast and sails for it and trying to make some ot