FUR FACTS 275 



sex and the few I had met were not particularly appealing to me. 

 But now, as I looked upon the sylph-like loveliness of the girl before 

 me, I was possessed of a strange feeling of an indescribable "some- 

 thmg" which welled up within me and made me wish that my wounds 

 were more serious. Then it occurred to me that I could practice a 

 little deception, so instead of answering her, I merely opened and 

 closed my eyes again, grimacing as if in great pain. With the grace- 

 fulness and sprightliness of a fairy, she flew to the rear of the cabin 

 and brought a damp cloth which she placed on my head, also a bottle 

 for me to inhale. I inhaled deeply, and presently felt greatly 

 "revived." I opened my eyes and smiled as gratefully as I knew 

 how, and was overjoyed when she returned the smile, asking me 

 again as she did so, if I was badly hurt. 



"No, not much," I said, "only that my head feels rather queer." 



"I'm sorry," she continued "that father isn't here to help you 

 up, but if you think it safe to try, perhaps I can help you into the 

 house." Nothing covdd be fairer than that, so I told her I was quite 

 sure we could make it. We did. She led the way to a couch, but 

 I told her I felt much better and if she didn't mind I was going to 

 sit up. 



"Very well, then, you can sit right down here at the table. I'll 

 soon have supper ready. Now I must see how mother is. She is 

 very sick and I'm afraid she will have pneumonia." 



She disappeared into the adjoining room, while I removed my 

 coat and deposited my knapsack near the fire-place. As I did so, 

 my attention was arrested by the familiar appearance of a gun re- 

 clining on the mantle-piece. Surely, I had seen that gun before, I 

 thought. It was an exact duphcate of the fire-arm that Jack Haley 

 carried when we started on our hunting trip — the gun that was 

 stolen from the cabin on the morning we were running our trap line. 

 But Jack's gun, I remembered, had his initials cut on one side of the 

 stock. Taking the gun in my hands I examined the stock very care- 

 fully, and wiiile no initials were to be found, I noticed that the spot 

 where Jack's initials were carved was slightly hollowed, and it 

 occurred to me that they had been shaved off and the surface smooth- 

 ed down with sand-paper, followed by a coating of varnish. 



Here I was interrupted by the re-appearance of the girl who 

 reported, smilingly, that her mother was resting well. 



"This is a nice gun your father has," I said, trying to appear 

 natural. 



