whoop when he caught sight of
them and rushed precipitately to the back of the room to drag forth two
pairs of rabbits.

"Plugged 'em all meself!" he declared proudly.

The rabbits were duly examined and Sparrer was praised for his
marksmanship until his cheeks burned, Pat leading in piling it on thick.
Two of the rabbits had been neatly drilled through the heads, a third
had "got it in the neck," as Pat put it, and the fourth had been shot
through the body. Pat forestalled any criticism by explaining that this
was the first rabbit they had found and he had told Sparrer to "shoot at
thot little lump av snow just by way av gettin' yer hand in." Quite
innocently Sparrer had done so, and had nearly dropped the rifle in
surprise when the lump of snow had resolved itself into a rabbit which
gave a few spasmodic kicks and then lay still.

Of course Hal was chaffed unmercifully over his one lone contribution to
the larder, especially when he admitted that he had shot at no less than
five. But he took it good-naturedly, confessing that he was utterly at
loss to account for his bad form.

Meanwhile Upton had said nothing about his discovery on the ridge. His
first impulse had been to blurt out the news, but on second thought he
had decided not to. At the first opportunity he drew Pat aside and told
him. The big fellow's face darkened. "Say nothing about it," he
counseled. "There's no use in spoiling a merry day, and the knowledge
that we are being watched will do them no good. There's nothing we can
do about it to-day. 'Tis not likely they mean us any harm. It's the fur
they are after, and they've just taken advantage of the crust which
leaves no trail to look us over and find out how many are in our party."

So Walter held his peace, and threw himself into the preparations for
dinner as if he had nothing of more importance on his mind. That
Christmas feast will never be forgotten by the three city lads. There
was the promised roast of venison, a rabbit stew, potatoes baked in the
ashes, canned peas, biscuit, a jar of jam, and, to top off with, a hot
apple pie made from evaporated apples. But the real surprise was a steak
done to a turn over the hot coals.

"Bear!" shouted Hal as he set his teeth in the first mouthful.

Alec smiled. "I see ye have tasted it before," said he.

"Once," replied Hal. "Louis Woodhull got one on that Swift River trip a
year ago last fall. But when did you get this fellow, and why have you
kep