276 FUR FACTS 



"Yes — father always keeps a stock of guns of various kinds. 

 There are some more in the rack there." 



"He is a hunter then?" I asked, stepping over to examine the 

 rack. There were ten guns of various kinds on the rack and I won- 

 dered if they had all been stolen as I believed the one on the mantle 

 to have been. 



"Oh, yes," she replied, placing the chairs to the table, "father 

 usually hunts and traps about six months out of the year. He's 

 very seldom home, except during the summer when he works at the 

 saw mill and now, wont you sit down and make yourself at home and 

 have supper?" 



"Thank you very much," I answered, "but isn't your mother able 

 to eat with us?" 



"Oh, no, mother hasn't eaten at the table in more than three 

 weeks. Besides, she's asleep now, and it wouldn't do to wake her." 



I had never enjoyed a supper as much as I did that one. Whether 

 it was the food on the table or the fair face which sat opposite me 

 that gave such zest to the meal, I could never say, but I never ate 

 more heartily nor enjoyed a meal as thoroughly. 



After the meal was finished my young hostess insisted on showing 

 me to my room, so I went to bed and slept soundly. The next 

 morning I awoke to find my eyes staring into the face of a hard- 

 visaged middle-aged man. There on the wall was a picture of the 

 very man whom I had encountered on my trip up the river in search 

 of provisions. Then, surely, her father was the thief and that was 

 Jack's gun on the mantle-piece. 



I heard dishes rattling in the next room and the rich aroma of 

 coffee told me that breaMast was in preparation. I found a basin 

 of water, a towel and a bar of soap on the washstand so I made my 

 toilet and hastened to make my appearance at the breakfast table. 

 Everything was in readiness and presently my hostess greeted me 

 with a cordial "Good morning," placing in front of me a generous 

 dish of oatmeal. 



An inch or so of snow had fallen during the night, but the morning 

 was clear and the sun, now well beyond the horizon, was filling the 

 room with a flood of light. This illumination only served to 

 enhance the beauty of the girl whose charms were already holding 

 me spellbound. 



"I wonder," said she, as we took our places at the table, "if you'd 

 object to telling me your name." 



