view of us, without minding so worn out curs, as you and I. Instinct
is their gift, Hector and, they have found out how little we are to be
feared, they have!"

The dog stretched his head upward, and responded to the words of his
master by a long and plaintive whine, which he even continued after he
had again buried his head in the grass, as if he held an intelligent
communication with one who so well knew how to interpret dumb discourse.

"This is a manifest warning, Hector!" the trapper continued, dropping
his voice, to the tones of caution and looking warily about him. "What
is it, pup; speak plainer, dog; what is it?"

The hound had, however, already laid his nose to the earth, and was
silent; appearing to slumber. But the keen quick glances of his master,
soon caught a glimpse of a distant figure, which seemed, through the
deceptive light, floating along the very elevation on which he had
placed himself. Presently its proportions became more distinct, and then
an airy, female form appeared to hesitate, as if considering whether it
would be prudent to advance. Though the eyes of the dog were now to be
seen glancing in the rays of the moon, opening and shutting lazily, he
gave no further signs of displeasure.

"Come nigher; we are friends," said the trapper, associating himself
with his companion by long use, and, probably, through the strength of
the secret tie that connected them together; "we are your friends; none
will harm you."

Encouraged by the mild tones of his voice, and perhaps led on by the
earnestness of her purpose, the female approached, until she stood at
his side; when the old man perceived his visitor to be the young woman,
with whom the reader, has already become acquainted by the name of
"Ellen Wade."

"I had thought you were gone," she said, looking timidly and anxiously
around. "They said you were gone; and that we should never see you
again. I did not think it was you!"

"Men are no common objects in these empty fields," returned the trapper,
"and I humbly hope, though I have so long consorted with the beasts of
the wilderness, that I have not yet lost the look of my kind."

"Oh! I knew you to be a man, and I thought I knew the whine of the
hound, too," she answered hastily, as if willing to explain she knew not
what, and then checking herself, like one fearful of having already said
too much.

"I saw no dogs, among the teams of your father," the trapper remarked.

"Father!" exclai