"
"Unless a wild animal has taken up its abode there," said Paul.
"'Tain't likely," replied Long Jim. "We've left the human smell
thar, an' even after all this time it's likely to drive away any
prowlin' bear or panther that pokes his nose in."
Long Jim was quite right. Their snug nest, like that of a
squirrel in the side of a tree, had not been disturbed. The
skins which they had rolled up tightly and placed on the higher
shelves of stone were untouched, and several days' hunting
increased the supply. The hunting was singularly easy, and,
although the five did not know it, the quantity of game was much
greater in that region than it had been for years. It had been
swept of human beings by the Iroquois and Tory hordes, and deer,
bear, and panther seemed to know instinctively that the woods
were once more safe for them.
In their hunting they came upon the ruins of charred houses, and
more than once they saw something among the coals that caused
them to turn away with a shudder. At every place where man had
made a little opening the wilderness was quickly reclaiming its
own again. Next year the grass and the foliage would cover up
the coals and the hideous relics that lay among them.
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