his pace, not desiring to be too late in reaching his mother's cabin.
Unless some neighbor had passed and given them the news of the victory
at James Breckenridge's they might be worried for fear there had
actually been a battle. Deep in the forest upon the mountainside there
sounded the human-like scream of a catamount, and the memory of his
adventure of the morning was still very vivid in his mind. He began to
fear his mother's censure for his delay, too, for Mistress Harding
brought up her children to strict obedience and Enoch, man though he
felt himself to be because of this day's work, knew he had no business
to loiter until after dark in the forest.

He stumbled on now in some haste and was approaching the ford in the
wide stream near which he had shot the doe, when a flicker of light off
at one side of the trail attracted his attention. It was a newly kindled
campfire and the pungent smoke of it reached his nostrils at the instant
the flame was apparent to his eyes. He leaped behind a tree and peered
through the thickening darkness at the spot where the campfire was
built. His heart beat rapidly, for despite the supposed peacefulness of
the times there was always the possibility of enemies lurking in the
forest. And the settlers had grown wary since the controversy with the
Yorkers became so serious.

Enoch was nearing the boundaries of his father's farm now and ever since
Simon Halpen had endeavored to evict them and especially since Jonas
Harding's death, the possibility of the Yorkers' return had been a
nightmare to Enoch. Lying a moment almost breathless behind the tree, he
began to recover his presence of mind and fortitude. First he freshened
the priming of his gun and then, picking his way cautiously, approached
the campfire. Like a shadow he flitted from tree to tree and from brush
clump to stump, circling the camp, but ever drawing nearer. With the
instinct of the born wood-ranger he took infinite pains in approaching
the spot and from the moment he had observed the light he spent nearly
an hour in circling about until he finally arrived at a point where he
could view successfully the tiny clearing.

Now, at once, he descried a figure sitting before the blaze. The man had
his back against a tree and that is why Enoch had found such difficulty
at first in seeing him. He was nodding, half asleep, with his cap pulled
down over his eyes, so that only the merest outline of his face was
revealed. It was a