at and fish for my family; for,
willing and able though Oscar is to provide for them, he is yet too
young to have the duty laid upon his little shoulders."

This having been satisfactorily settled, the captain and Paul wrapped
themselves in deerskin blankets, and lay down with their feet to the
fire.

Hendrick, having heaped a fresh supply of fuel on the embers, followed
their example, and the camp was soon buried in profound silence.

CHAPTER TWELVE.

A SURPRISE, A FIGHT, AND A WAR PARTY.

At this point in our tale we might profitably turn aside for a little to
dilate upon the interesting--not to say exciting--proceedings of our
explorers and the hunter's family during the few days spent in the
island home and its neighbourhood, were it not that incidents of a more
stirring and important nature claim our attention.

We might, if time and space permitted, tell how they all went fishing in
the lake with Oliver's cod-hooks, which were, of course, greatly
superior to the bone-hooks which Hendrick had been accustomed to
manufacture; how they went salmon-spearing by torchlight in a
neighbouring stream, in which operation Oliver soon became as expert as
his entertainers, and even more enthusiastic, insomuch that he several
times met what seemed to be his ordinary fate--a ducking in the water;
how, in consequence, he caught a bad cold, as well as fish, and was
compelled to lie up and be nursed for several days, during which time of
forced inaction he learned to appreciate the excellent nursing qualities
of Trueheart and her daughter Goodred. He also learned to estimate at
its true value the yelling power of the family baby, whose will was iron
and whose lungs were leather, besides being inflated by the fresh,
wholesome air of the grand wilderness. We might tell of the short but
thrilling expeditions undertaken by the men and boys in pursuit of
bears, otters, beaver, and deer, in which Hendrick displayed the
certainty of his deadly aim, and Master Trench the uncertainty of his
dreadful shooting, despite all his former "practice." We might relate
the interesting stories, anecdotes, and narratives with which the
explorers and the hunter sought to beguile the pleasant periods that
used to follow supper and precede repose, and describe the tremendous
energy of Paul Burns in springing to the rescue of the self-willed baby
when it fell into the fire, and the cool courage of Oliver Trench in
succouring the same baby when