egarding Jim. "We've got up the house without sp'ilin' the
surroundin's. It jest blends with rock an' bush, an' we've helped natur'
without tryin' to improve it."

"I believe you've got the truth of it, Sol," said Paul. "I'm getting fond
of this place. How long do you think we'll stay here, Sol?"

Shif'less Sol cocked up his weather eye, and a look of surpassing wisdom
came over his face.

"When the ground hog come out o' his hole in the fall an' saw his shadder,
he went right back ag'in," he replied, "an' that means a hard winter.
Besides, we're pretty far north, an' all the hunters say they have lot o'
snow hereabouts. We're goin' to have cold an' snow right along. That's the
opinion o' me, Solomon Hyde. Jim Hart may say somethin' else, but he ain't
worth listenin' to."

"I said this mornin' that it wuz goin' to be a hard winter," growled Jim
Hart. "You heard me sayin' so, an' that's the reason you're sayin' so
now."

"Oh, Jim, Jim! Whatever will become o' you?" exclaimed Shif'less Sol
sadly. "An' I've always tried to teach you that the truth wuz the right
thing."

Paul laughed.

"Sol," he asked, "did you ever see a game of chess?"

"Chess? What's that? Is it a mark you shoot at?"

"No; you play it on a board with little figures made of wood, if you
haven't got anything else. My father has a set of chessmen, and he plays
often with Mr. Pennypacker, our school teacher. He's played with me, too,
and I can show you how to make the things and to play."

A look of interest came into Sol's eyes.

"We've got lots o' time," he said. "S'pose you do it, Paul. I know I kin
learn. I ain't so sure o' Jim Hart thar."

Jim was also interested, so much so that he forgot to reply to Shif'less
Sol.

"How'll you do it?" he asked.

Paul's reply was to begin at once. He cut a big square piece of white
fanned deerskin, and upon this he marked the little squares with
coal-black. Then the three of them went to work with their sharp hunting
knives, carving out the wooden figures. The results were crude, but they
had enough shape for identification, and then Paul began to teach the game
itself.

Sol and Jim were really men of strong intellect, and they had plenty of
patience. Paul was surprised at their progress. They were soon thinking
for themselves, and when Paul himself did not want to play, the two would
fight it out over the deerskin.

"It's a slow game, but good," said Shif'less Sol. "It 'pears to me that a
man to