by a good hike and the
fragrant balsamy air of the great forest.

Squatting about the glowing coals of the campfire, which cast a red
reflection on the tall, sombre pines in back of them, they voted Dick a
capital cook, and the supper one of the best they had eaten since they
left the station where they had done fire patrol duty.

The meal over and the dishes washed, they discussed the advisability of
establishing a guard as they had done when danger threatened them in
past times.

Garry was of the opinion that it would be unnecessary for a time, as no
one knew of their mission and they had seen nothing that would tend to
alarm them.

The others were glad of this decision, for all were tired with the work
of establishing the camp and the hike they had taken to the boundary
line.

Shortly after midnight Garry was roused from his slumber by a nightmare
in which he dreamed that LeBlanc and he were desperately battling on the
top of a great cliff.

The dream was so realistic that when he woke, he shuddered for a moment.
Then feeling somewhat chilly, he found that the fire had died down, and
rose to throw a few sticks of wood on the still red coals. He cast a
glance about him and in the distance saw a gleaming pair of eyes!

Hastily drawing his flashlight from his pocket, and diving back into the
lean-to for his rifle, he made sure it was loaded and then investigated
the gleaming eyes. His flashlight was a good one, throwing a long white
beam of light into the darkness.

What he saw was some sort of an animal that, unperturbed by the light,
was advancing slowly. Snapping off the flashlight, and dropping it to
his side, he threw his rifle to his shoulder. He took a careful aim at a
point between the shining eyes, and fired. There was a snarl and a
violent squirming for a moment, and then all was still.

Garry's shot had sent the wild echoes chashing through the still forest,
and in a trice, Phil and Dick were awakened, and came rushing to his
side, bringing their rifles with them.

"What is it, Garry?" shouted Phil. "Have we been attacked?"

"No, but there is no telling what he might have done. As far as I could
make out, it's a big bobcat. I haven't gone near it yet, for I am not
sure that it is dead, although it hasn't made a move since I fired,"
answered Garry.

"Well, let's go and take a look. Load your rifle again, and we can keep
ours trained on the beast and make short work of him if he is still
alive,