operations.

With this idea in mind, his first care was to select the most
advantageous spot for a mill, and to this end he deposited his burden
on the shore of the river, where it could readily be found again, after
which he set about inspecting the property.

He spent several hours in this work, and had fully decided upon the
location for the building when he was startled by hearing what sounded
very like a human voice among the underbrush a short distance from the
shore.

With his gun held ready for instant use in case any danger threatened,
he went cautiously in the direction from which the noise appeared to
have come, and after a brief time threw aside the weapon with an
exclamation of dismay.

In a dense portion of the forest, where were several aged trees
partially decayed at their base, he dimly saw the figure of a man,
apparently pinned to the ground by the heavy branches of a fallen
hemlock.

He was sufficiently versed in woodcraft to understand that the
unfortunate had either felled a tree which had fallen upon him, or
passed beneath one of the giants of the forest at the precise moment
when its rotten trunk gave way under the burden of the enormous top.

A low moan from the sufferer told he was yet alive, and at the same
time proclaimed that relief must soon come if death was to be cheated
of its prey.

"Hold out a few minutes longer, friend," Walter cried, cheerily. "I
must have an axe before I can do very much toward getting you free from
that timber."

There was no reply; the poor wretch's strength was nearly exhausted,
and the boy understood that he must work, with all possible speed if he
would save a human life.

"It seems that my coming here may be of more use than simply hiding
from Sam Haines," he cried, as he ran with all speed toward the spot
where the goods had been left. "I have been grumbling because Stephen
brought an axe instead of a hatchet, but now I should be able to do
very little without it."

Ten minutes later he was chopping furiously at the imprisoning
branches, using due care to prevent additional injury to the helpless
man, and when so much of the foliage had been cut away as to give him a
clear view of what was beneath, he exclaimed in surprise,--

"An Indian! What could have brought him so near the town?"

Then he forgot the colour of the sufferer, thought not of what his kind
had done in the way of savage cruelty to helpless women and children,
but devoted all hi