Part 24 (2/2)

”We may be able to use you yet,” he remarked as he picked up an end of the net ”If you're not too rotten, you'll serve us a good turn

There are ptarh if we catch theood as quail and about as pluh if only we can catch the to drop both ends of this net at just the right moment is more than I can tell”

The net proved to be in serviceable condition It was some ten yards by three wide and was of a finely woven e One of these was quickly attached to an end of the net, then the net wound upon it The second stake was fastened to the re the net to a level stretch at the top of a ridge, he unrolled it, then for a full five htfully to the right and strolled along the net Suddenly soround

Rising, he looked at the thing that had tripped hi s!” he exclai!”

He spent the next threes When he had found two long, strong ones, he left them still fast to earth at one end and went for his net One pole he set on end and proceeded to fasten it there by the aid of the creeping s, guying it to right and left, as a flag-pole is often braced He then ran out the length of his net and, having pulled it tight, with the other pole perpendicular, he gave this pole a sudden pull and twist, then threw it to the ground The net went flat

”Capital!” he cried ”That will do it”

Having reset his net he took a long, circular route; he ca had followedto sense as needed, he began rocking back and forth, first to the right, then to the left Now and then a white spot rose a foot or two above the snow to soar forward

The boy's eyes snapped Here was sport thatif they won

Now they neared the net His heart beat fast Suppose the birds should rise and soar away? Then all this ould be lost But they still ran or fluttered forward

”Must be eight or ten of the the net Veering swiftly to one side, the boy raced to the reclining pole Lifting it lightly he drew the net to position So white were the birds that he could scarcely distinguish theht a faint shock A bird in low flight had struck the net With wildly beating heart, he threw the net to the snow, then went racing down its length

”One,” he exclaimed, fairly beside himself, ”two, three, four” Each time he named the count he had drawn a bird from the meshes At last he was to the end and sank down exhausted The dog was at his side

”Rover, old top,” he murmured, ”four of e's eyes rolled hungrily, but he did not offer to touch the birds

With eager, treers the boy tore the feathers fros and back, reserving for himself the dark, rich 's table He cut this off in thin strips and spread it upon a hard-packed bank of snow The thermometer must stand at ten below The thin strips would soon be frozen solid They would then be almost as palatable as if they had been cooked

With ahts wandered back to the question of the nature of the land he had discovered

Little knohat lay just before hithened and enheartened, he began ht on the newly discovered land

A freezing wind swept across the plateau He must find shelter from this if he was to secure the sleep his tired form demanded After a search, he found a rocky crevice which, by the aid of some squares of snow cut from a near-by bank, he converted into a three-sided house, with the open side away froreat rocks that lay tuatheredit to his house,

His next thought was of a fire He had no desire to eatinfluence of even a tiny blaze The ground was everywhere over-run with creeping s

These he clipped off with his hunting knife and tied in bundles Some were dry and dead These he kept in a separate bundle When he had an armload, he carried them to a spot near the door of the house

He had nooff a foot of a pole used with the net, he split it in two pieces One of these halves he split again and from these smaller pieces he forh creepingrunner for a string to his boith dry moss for tinder, he soon had, first a s a carefully picked and cleaned fowl over a cheerful fla broiled this to a turn, he shared it with the dog, then lay down to sleep Before the sweet oblivion of sleep quieted his achingquestions came back to him, ”What land? What people?” There were but two questions now; the third had been temporarily solved; they still had a bird for breakfast, and that there were others to be caught he did not doubt

CHAPTER XVII

OUT OF THE NIGHT

After Marian and Lucile had heard the crash against the door of the boarded-up house, and had stilled their wildly beating hearts, they dragged thes and sat up