THE BOY WITH THE U. S. 

 NATURALISTS 



CHAPTER I 



MENACED BY BEAK AND CLAW 



** Where's Bull Adam?" demanded the 

 stranger curtly. 



Shan looked up from under his eyebrows with 

 a suspicious glance. Strangers were not welcome 

 at the cabin, which deservedly bore a sinister 

 reputation. 



**I don't know where he's gone," the boy an- 

 swered sulkily. The thought ran through his 

 mind that this was the very sort of man his uncle 

 wished to avoid. 



''See here, boy," the stranger continued, with a 

 peremptory note in his voice which grated on 

 Shan's ears, *'it ain't no good to lie to me. I 

 reckon, generally, on findin' out what I go after. 

 Tell what yo' know, an' tell it straight. Where's 

 Bull?" 



