E-text prepared by Juliet Sutherland, Anne Storer, and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team (https://www.pgdp.net) Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this file which includes the original illustrations. See 24758-h.htm or 24758-h.zip: (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/4/7/5/24758/24758-h/24758-h.htm) or (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/4/7/5/24758/24758-h.zip) THE EYES OF THE WOODS * * * * * By JOSEPH A. ALTSHELER THE CIVIL WAR SERIES The Guns of Bull Run The Guns of Shiloh The Scouts of Stonewall The Sword of Antietam The Star of Gettysburg The Rock of Chickamaugua The Shades of the Wilderness The Tree of Appomattox THE WORLD WAR SERIES The Guns of Europe The Hosts of the Air The Forest of Swords THE YOUNG TRAILERS SERIES The Young Trailers The Forest Runners The Keepers of the Trail The Eyes of the Woods The Free Rangers The Riflemen of the Ohio The Scouts of the Valley The Border Watch THE TEXAN SERIES The Texan Star The Texan Scouts The Texan Triumph THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR SERIES The Hunters of the Hills The Shadow of the North The Rulers of the Lakes BOOKS NOT IN SERIES Apache Gold The Quest of the Four The Last of the Chiefs In Circling Camps A Soldier of Manhattan The Sun of Saratoga A Herald of the West The Wilderness Road My Captive D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, NEW YORK * * * * * THE EYES OF THE WOODS A Story of the Ancient Wilderness by JOSEPH A. ALTSHELER Author of "The Young Trailers," "The Shadow of the North," "The Hunters of the Hills," "The Tree of Appomattox," Etc. Illustrated by D. C. Hutchison [Illustration: "It was the shiftless one who had shot the bear, and he was proud"] D. Appleton and Company New York and London: 1917 Copyright, 1917, by D. Appleton and Company Printed in the United States of America FOREWORD "The Eyes of the Woods" is an independent story, telling of certain remarkable events in the life of Henry Ware, Paul Cotter, Shif'less Sol Hyde, Silent Tom Ross and Long Jim Hart. But it is also a part of the series dealing with these characters, and is the fourth in point of time, coming just after "The Keepers of the Trail." CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. THE FLIGHT 1 II. THE GREAT JOKE 23 III. A MERRY NIGHT 45 IV. THE CAPTURED CANOE 67 V. THE PROTECTING RIVER 89 VI. THE OASIS 111 VII. INTO THE NORTH 130 VIII. THE BUFFALO RING 149 IX. THE COVERT 168 X. THE BEAR GUIDE 186 XI. THE GREATER POWERS 209 XII. THE STAG'S COMING 225 XIII. THE LEAPING WOLF 245 XIV. THE WATCHFUL SQUIRREL 266 XV. THE LETTER 286 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS