without bein' pestered by them two oneasy chaps?" whispered Dan,
jumping up from his block of wood and looking all around, as if he
were seeking a way of escape.

"Not a word out of you," replied Godfrey, shaking his fist at his
son.

Following Godfrey's example, Dan threw himself behind one of the
piles of cane, and the two held their breath and listened.




CHAPTER VII.

WHAT HAPPENED THERE.


"You're not going to get out, are you, Don?" asked Bert, and as he
was not more than four or five rods away, every word he uttered was
distinctly heard by the two listeners in the cane.

"I want to stretch my legs a little," was Don's reply. "Come on, and
let's explore the island. You know it used to be a famous bear's den,
don't you?"

"I should think I ought to know it, having heard father tell the
story of the animal's capture a dozen times or more. He must have
been a monster: he was so large and heavy that it was all a span of
mules could do to drag him from the shore of the lake, where he was