One day soon after that Dunmore began to think of the children. In spite of himself he longed to see them again. He started for the camp at Lost River, and planned while there to have a talk with Strong and Master. At Nick Pond, on his way down, he met the two Migleys. After his interview with them he decided that he must have more information regarding the young man before going farther. XXIX MORE than a month had passed since the journey of Sinth to Buck-horn; but nothing had come of it. Silas, tramping with a party of fishermen, had met Dunmore one day, but the latter had stopped only for a word of greeting. Master had left his little camp and Strong was to send for him on the arrival of important news. The candidate had canvassed every mill village among the foot-hills of the county but had found it up-hill work. Many voters had lately become bosom friends of Joe Socket, the able postmaster at Moon Lake. Once Master had wandered into the Emperor's camp with a plan to invade the stronghold of Dunmore and release the girl if, perchance, she might desire to be free. Strong had wisely turned the young man's thought from all violence. He had taken out his old memorandum-book and pointed to this entry: _"Strong says the best thing fer a man to do in hell is kepe cool. Excitement will increase the heat."_ So a foolish purpose had ended in a laugh. Since midsummer some rain had fallen, but not enough to slake the thirst of the dry earth. Now in the third week of September the tops were ragged and the forest floor strewn with new leaves and with great rugs of sunlight. Big, hurtling flakes of red and gold fell slowly and shook out the odors of that upper, fairy world of which Edith Dunmore had told the children. One still, sunlit day of that week the old struggle between Satan and Silas Strong reached a critical stage. Sinth had gone for a walk with Sue and Socky, and young Migley, coming down from his camp at Nick, had found the Emperor alone. He was overhauling a boat in his little workshop. . "Well, Colonel," said the young lumberman, "we want to know why you're fighting us." Strong had lately gone over to the scene of his quarrel on the State land and plugged some of the pines with dynamite and posted warnings. He had rightly reckoned that thereafter the thieves would not find it easy to hire men for that job. "You're f-fightin' me," said Strong, as he continued his work. "How's that?" "C-cause ye ain't honest." "Look here, Colonel, you'd better fight for us." The young man spoke with a show of feeling. "We'd like to be friendly with you." Strong went on with his work, but made no answer. "We're only taking old trees that are dead or dying over there on the State land. Some of 'em are stag-headed--full of 'widow-makers,'" said Thomas Migley. It should be explained that a big, dead branch was called a "widow-maker" by the woods folk.