. . .ut never in sufficient numbers to make as marked a trail as this—we must certainly investigate this one."

This wider trail led them for perhaps a hundred[29] feet through a dense thicket of shrubbery; then, with a suddenness that was startling, the explorers found themselves in another clearing, about half the size of the first. In it stood a curious structure with a rounded top. It was built of bent strips of wood, covered with large sheets of rough birch bark, bound in place with willow withes, and sewed in spots with buckskin thongs. It was blackened with age and smoke.

"It looks," said Henrietta, "like the top half of a big balloon. And mercy! How horrible it smells."

"What is it?" asked Mabel. "Is it a bear's den? Ugh! I hope Mr. Bear isn't home."

"It's a birch-bark wigwam," replied Mr. Black, "and somebody has occupied it recently. See the bed in the corner?"

Sure enough, there was a bed—some balsam . . . Read More