kept himself
thoroughly wrapped in the greatcoat. As he ate he saw a large black
bear walk leisurely through the forest, look at him a moment or two,
and then waddle on in the same grave, unalarmed manner. The incident
troubled Robert, and his high spirits came down a notch or two.

If a black bear cared so little for the presence of an armed human
being then he could not be as near to New York as he had
thought. Perhaps he had been unconscious on the schooner a long
time. He felt of the lump which was not yet wholly gone from his head,
and tried his best to tell how old it was, but he could not do it.

The little cloud in his golden sky disappeared when he rose and
started again through a fine forest. His spirits became as high as
ever. Looking westward he saw the dim blue line of distant hills, and
he turned northward, inferring that New York must lie in that
direction. In two hours his progress was barred by a river running
swiftly between high banks, and with ice at the edges. He could have
waded it as the water would not rise past his waist, but he did not
like the look of the chill current, and he did not want another
wetting on a winter day.

He followed the stream a long distance, until he came to shallows,
where he was able to cross it on stones. His search for a dry ford had
caused much delay, but he drew comfort from his observation that the
stones making his pathway through the water were large and almost
round. He had seen many such about New York, and he had often marveled
at their smoothness and roundness, although he did not yet know the
geological reason. But the stones in the river seemed to him to be
close kin to the stones about New York, and he inferred, or at least
he hoped, that it indicated the proximity of the city.

But he believed that he would have to spend another night in the
wilderness. Search the sky as he would, and he often did, there was no
trace of smoke, and, as the sun went down the zenith and the cold
began to increase, his spirits fell a little. But he reasoned with
himself. Why should one inured as he was to the forest and winter,
armed, provisioned and equipped with the greatcoat, be troubled? The
answer to his question was a return of confidence in full tide, and
resolving to be leisurely he looked about in the woods for his new
camp. What he wanted was an abundance of dead leaves out of which to
make a nest. Dead leaves were cold to the touch, but they would serve
as a c