"Not down the north side?" "Yes." "Great Scott! you are the first that ever did it, then. How long have you been on the way?" "I don't know exactly, but something over a month." "The poor chap's mind is wandering," said the big man to one of his companions; "for no one ever came down the north side alive, and no one could spend a whole month doing it, anyway. I've often heard, though, that folks went crazy when they got lost in the woods." The men took turns, two at a time, in carrying Bonny, and Buck Raulet himself assisted Alaric, until, guided by the shouts of the teamsters, they reached the point from which they had started. By this time Bonny had regained consciousness, and was wondering, in a dazed fashion, what had happened. "Is it all right, Rick?" he asked, as his comrade bent anxiously over him. "Yes, old man, it's all right; and the light I told you of is shining bright and clear at last." "Queer, isn't it, how the poor lad's mind wanders?" remarked Raulet to one of the men. "He thinks he sees a bright light, while I'll swear no one has so much as struck a match. We must hustle, now, and get 'em to camp. Do you think you feel strong enough to set straddle of a horse, son?" he asked of Alaric. "Yes, indeed," answered the boy, cheerfully. "I feel strong enough for anything now." "Good for you! That's the talk! Give us a foot and let me h'ist you up. Why, lad, you're mighty nigh bare-footed! No wonder you didn't find the walking good. Here, Dick, you lead this horse, while I ride Sal-lal and carry the little chap." [Illustration: BONNY WAS CARRIED DOWN THE SKID-ROAD TO THE CAMP.] Thus saying, the big man vaulted to the back of the other horse, and reaching down, lifted Bonny up in front of him as though he had been a child. Camp was a mile or more away, and as the brawny loggers escorted their unexpected guests to it down the winding skid-road, they eagerly discussed the strange event that had so suddenly broken the monotony of their lives, though, with a kindly consideration, they refrained from asking Alaric any more questions just then. "Hurry on, some of you fellows," shouted Raulet, "and light up my shack, for these chaps are going to bunk in with me to-night. I claim 'em on account of being the first to hear 'em, you know. Start a fire in the square, too, so's the place will look cheerful." No one will ever know how cheerful and homelike and altogether delightful that logging camp did look to our poor lads after their long and terrible experience of the wilderness, for they could never afterwards find words to express what they felt on coming out of the darkness into its glowing firelight and hearty welcome. "Stand back, men, and give us a show," shouted Raulet, as they drew up before his own little "shack," built of split cedar boards. "This isn't any funeral; same time it ain't no circus parade, and we want to get in out of the cold."