"There's law, and officers to execute it," he said, "if a sufficient reward be offered; and to-morrow you and I, Levi, will start for the settlement and fetch a couple in. I'll gladly give five hundred dollars to land this sneak behind the bars. If he can't be caught, we can at least have two officers to guard us going out." All that day he and Levi spent in hunting. Another deer was captured, more birds secured, and when evening came plans to meet the situation were discussed. "You or Ray must remain on guard daytimes near the cabin," Martin said to Old Cy. "My wife and Chip had better keep in it, or near it most of the time; and both of you must sleep there nights. One or the other can fish or hunt, as needed. We must be gone a week or more, even if we have good luck; but fetching the officers here is the best plan now." Levi was up early the next morning, and had the best canoe packed for a hurry trip ere breakfast was ready. No tent was to be taken, only blankets, a rifle, a bag of the simplest cooking utensils, pork, bread, and coffee. A modest outfit--barely enough to sustain life, yet all a woodsman carries when a long canoe journey with many carries must be taken. There were sober faces at the landing when Martin was ready to start,--Chip most sober of all,--for now she realized as never before how serious a burden she had become. No time was wasted in good-bys. Martin grasped the bow paddle, and with "Old Faithful" Levi wielding the stern one, they soon crossed the lake and vanished at its outlet. And now, also, for the first time, Angie realized how much the presence of these two strong and resourceful men meant to her. All that day she and Chip clung to the cabin, while Old Cy, a long, lanky Leatherstocking, patrolled the premises, rifle in hand. "We hain't a mite o' cause to worry," he said, when nightfall drew near. "That pesky varmint's a coward, 'n' knows guns are plenty here, an' we folks handy in usin' 'em. I've rigged a fish line to the ice-house door, so it'll rattle some tinware in the cabin if he meddles it again. I sleep with one eye 'n' both ears open, an' if he comes prowlin' round night-times, he'll hear bullets whizzin' an' think Fourth o' July's opened up arly." But for all his cheerful assurance, time passed slowly, and a sense of real danger oppressed Angie and Chip as well. Ray shared it also. He was not as yet hardened to the wilderness, and like all who are thus tender, its vast sombre solitude seemed ominous. Only the hermit, with his moonlike eyes and impassive ways, showed no sign of trouble. What this half-breed wanted, other than food, he seemed not to understand; and while he helped about the camp work and followed Old Cy like a dog, he was of no other aid.