sat upon the seat, with Jack
doing the driving just then, though both Toby and Steve had taken turns
at this work during the long day they had been on the road.

They were many miles away from Chester now, and pretty close to the end
of the journey, as Jack informed them.

"We'll strike the old logging road just above here, you see," he
explained, "and by following it a mile or so we are due to come on the
place where I've been told we'll find a dandy camp-site, with running
water near by."

"Lucky for us you managed to get hold of that old map, and copy it, I
tell you, Jack," ventured Steve. "This is certainly a pretty wild
country up here, and with mighty few settlers around. I doubt if you
could run across a single farm in four square miles of territory."

"It's really worse than that, Steve," admitted the other. "I think you'd
have to go three or four miles in any direction before you struck a
living soul; and then the chances are it'd only be some wandering
timber-cruiser, taking a look at the fine lumber prospects, with a hazy
idea that he might be able to strike a bargain with the party who owns
all this land up here."

"If they at one time started in to cut this timber," said Toby, glancing
around at the myriad of lofty trees that stretched their tops toward the
sky, "they didn't get very far before being called off, did they, Jack?"

"I believe the land fell into other hands, and the new owner had no
desire to clean it of the timber. So operations stopped. But many an
envious eye has been turned in the direction of the Pontico Hills of
recent years. They say it carries the finest batch of uncleared land
left in the county, if not the whole State."

"How about that grown-up road ahead of us, Jack," called out Toby, who
had very keen eyesight; "do you reckon now that might be the logging
trail we're looking for?"

"Just what it is, my friend," chuckled Jack; and upon reaching the spot
he forced the horse to make a turn to the right, though the animal
seemed a bit loath to obey the pull at the lines, apparently
anticipating harder work ahead.

They found it no easy task to push along the road over which the logging
teams had once made their way, so overgrown with vines and small
saplings had it become. Steadily they advanced, all of them eagerly
observing the many interesting things that caught their attention.

"There's something moving back of that hanging vine, fellows," suddenly
whispered Toby, ho