r
pocket, an' keep it for five year."

"Is the business all settled?" inquired Yates.

"Clean," replied Jim.

"When am I to have the liberty to go out of the woods?"

"Ye ain't goin' out o' the woods for a fortnight. Ye're a goin' to stay
here, an' have the best fishin' ye ever had in yer life. It'll do ye
good, an' ye can go out when yer man comes arter ye. Ye can stay to the
raisin', an' gi'en us a little lift with the other fellers that's
comin'. Ye'll be as strong as a hoss when ye go out."

An announcement more welcome than this could not have been made to Sam
Yates; and now that there was no secrecy between them, and confidence
was restored, he looked forward to a fortnight of enjoyment. He laid
aside his coat, and, as far as possible, reduced his dress to the
requirements of camp life. Jim and Mr. Benedict were very busy, so that
he was obliged to find his way alone, but Jim lent him his
fishing-tackle, and taught him how to use it; and, as he was an apt
pupil, he was soon able to furnish more fish to the camp than could be
used.

Yates had many a long talk with Benedict, and the two men found many
points of sympathy, around which they cemented a lasting friendship.
Both, though in different ways, had been very low down in the valley of
helpless misfortune; both had been the subjects of Mr. Belcher's brutal
will; and both had the promise of a better life before them, which it
would be necessary to achieve in opposition to that will. Benedict was
strengthened by this sympathy, and became able to entertain plans for
the assertion and maintenance of his rights.

When Yates had been at the camp for a week and had taken on the color
and the manner of a woodsman, there came one night to Number Nine a
dozen men, to assist in the raising of Jim's hotel. They were from the
mill where he had purchased his lumber, and numbered several neighbors
besides, including Mike Conlin. They came up the old "tote-road" by the
river side, and a herd of buffaloes on a stampede could hardly have made
more noise. They were a rough, merry set, and Jim had all he could do to
feed them. Luckily, trout were in abundant supply, and they supped like
kings, and slept on the ground. The following day was one of the
severest labor, but when it closed, the heaviest part of the timber had
been brought and put up, and when the second day ended, all the timbers
were in their place, including those which defined the outlines of Jim's
"cupalo."