impatient to begin the work resolved upon.

There was very much which he could do toward making ready for the erection
of that wished-for mill, and he felt confident the labour would not be
useless, although performed so far in advance of the building operations.

With this idea in mind, his first care was to select the most advantageous
spot for a mill, and to this end he deposited his burden on the shore of
the river, where it could readily be found again, after which he set about
inspecting the property.

He spent several hours in this work, and had fully decided upon the
location for the building when he was startled by hearing what sounded
very like a human voice among the underbrush a short distance from the
shore.

With his gun held ready for instant use in case any danger threatened, he
went cautiously in the direction from which the noise appeared to have
come, and after a brief time threw aside the weapon with an exclamation of
dismay.

In a dense portion of the forest, where were several aged trees partially
decayed at their base, he dimly saw the figure of a man, apparently pinned
to the ground by the heavy branches of a fallen hemlock.

He was sufficiently versed in woodcraft to understand that the unfortunate
had either felled a tree which had fallen upon him, or passed beneath one
of the giants of the forest at the precise moment when its rotten trunk
gave way under the burden of the enormous top.