er himself just there, and would say no more along
those lines, though quite willing to talk as long as his friend wished
in connection with the country, and the best route for them to follow.

Another half-hour passed thus in communion, and Cuthbert picked up
considerable information that was apt to prove of benefit to him in the
future--just how valuable he did not then suspect.

Eli had some time back given up his studies of the specimens he had
found, and joined in the general conversation; and his views were
usually as shrewd as they seemed quaint, for he possessed many of the
traits generally accredited to the Yankee from Down-East; and a natural
keenness had been further sharpened by his constant rubbing up against
all manner of men in the great logging camps of the Michigan peninsula.

It was getting near the time for them to fix the fire for the night, and
seek the shelter of their blankets, when Owen, whose hearing was
phenomenally keen, held up his hand, and remarked, with some show of
excitement:

"Somebody coming this way through the woods--not from the direction of
the post, but the other way. Perhaps it would be just as well to be
prepared, for you never know who to trust up here until he proves
himself to be a friend!"

CHAPTER VI.

THE TIMBER-CRUISER.

Neither of the boys whom Owen addressed showed any particular signs of
alarm at his rather startling words, though Cuthbert quietly reached out
and drew his faithful ally, the little Marlin repeater, somewhat closer,
as though he felt safer thus; and Eli looked up to where the shotgun,
which was his especial charge, leaned against an adjacent tree, within
easy reach.

Both of them had been around considerable, and could not be considered
green in the ways of the woods; and it is habit as well as disposition
that makes men cool in the face of peril.

Plainly now the footfalls could be heard, for evidently the party
approaching did not want to arouse suspicion on the part of the campers,
and be met by a hostile shot.

His figure loomed up presently in the semi-gloom beyond the range of the
firelight, and Cuthbert, when he first saw the tall, bulky form of the
pilgrim, was of the opinion that no word could do the newcomer better
justice than just the expression "loomed," for he was pretty much of a
giant.

He was roughly dressed for the work of the woods, and carried a rifle
of necessity, for a man would be several sorts of a fool who w