s, Will," answered Grace, meekly, as she accepted the box.

"I thought that would fetch you around," he said with a cheerful grin.
"Never mind, Amy, next time it will be you."

The unpacking was finished, bunks were prepared and for a little while,
before turning in for the night, Will and his chums called on his sister
and her friends. Mr. Franklin dropped in to see if the young folks
needed anything. He had filled a number of lamps for them, so there was
no lack of light, that winter evening.

The ice boat had been safely moored, plans had been made for breakfast,
and the boys had evinced a determination to get up early and go hunting.

"Are there any bears up here, Mr. Franklin?" asked Amy, nervously,
looking out of the window.

"Well, there has been known to be a few, especially in a hard winter.
They come out once in a while to sort of feed-up on our stock, if they
haven't eaten enough to sleep 'em through to Spring."

"Would you call this a hard winter?" Amy went on.

"Well, middlin' so," was the slow answer.

"What are you driving at, Amy?" Mollie wanted to know.

"It's a problem in geometry," said Will. "Things that are equal to the
same thing are equal to each other. A bear comes out to feed in a hard
winter--this is a hard winter, therefore a hungry bear is equal to a
hard winter. Eh, Amy?"

"It wasn't that at all!" she declared, blushing. "I only was wondering
if they would--would annoy us here."

"I won't let 'em bite you, Amy!" said Will, with a protecting, brotherly
air--too brotherly, Grace said it was.

"I guess all the bears you'll get down here you can put in your trunk,"
laughed the old woodsman. "Well, I must be gettin' back. This is late
for me. 'Most nine."

Indeed, they were all tired from the day's travel, and soon the boys had
been "shooed" away and the girls let down their hair.

After a hysterical half-hour or so, which always seems to follow when
one retires after a day spent in getting to a strange place, the girls
were asleep.

Amy awoke with a start shortly after midnight. She knew this because a
light left burning low in the living room shone on a small clock. And as
the girl listened she heard a crunching sound out on the frozen snow.

"Some one is trying to get in the cabin!" was the fearsome conclusion to
which she jumped. Then in her fright she called: "Betty--Mollie! Wake
up!"

Mollie was the first to rouse.

"What is it?" she asked, sitting up in bed.

"Some