"Don't you dare desert us to look for a barber!" commanded Ruth. "To be left alone in these woods--ugh!" and she shuddered as she looked about. Certainly it was very lonely. "It isn't as bad as last night, though," said Alice. "I feel quite at home, now. I wonder what became of that animal you shot, Russ? I'd like to see what it was." "I wouldn't," declared Ruth, decidedly. Breakfast over, the blankets and cushions of the boat were spread out in the sun to dry, for they were damp from the rain and dew. "And now the question is--what are we to do?" asked Mrs. Maguire. "We don't want to spend another night in the woods if we can help it." "I should say not!" cried Russ. "We'll start off in a little while and make our way back to the steamer." "Can you find it?" asked Ruth. "Well, it can't be so very far off," spoke Russ, evasively. "The trouble is there are so many twists and turns to these creeks and rivers that we lost our way. I wish I had thought to bring a compass but, since we didn't, we'll have to go by the sun. I think the steamer lies in that general neighborhood," and he pointed in a south-easterly direction. "I think so, too," agreed Paul. "And if we row that way I think we'll get back." Alice, who had gone over to the sunny spot where the blankets and cushions had been put to dry, uttered an exclamation. "Look!" she cried, and when Paul reached her side she pointed to some bright red spots on the leaves. "That's blood!" cried the young actor. "Russ, you winged that beast last night, all right." "Is that so? Let's have a look for him! Maybe I killed him. I'd like to see what sort of a creature it was." The two young men went a little way into the wood, and then came a call: "Here he is--dead as a door nail." "Oh, what is it? I want to see it!" cried Alice, who had a good deal of the curious boy in her make-up. "Don't go!" begged Ruth. "I shall, too. It can't hurt me--if it's dead." "I know, dear, but--" Alice went, however. "It's a lynx," said Russ, as he looked at the dead beast. "I can tell by those queer little tufts of hair on the ears." "Are they dangerous?" asked Alice. "Oh, I guess so, if you had one cornered. They can keep a fellow awake, anyhow, that's one sure thing. I must have fired better than I knew. But then the shot scattered so." "He must have been pretty close to us," remarked Paul. "Ugh! I don't like to think of it," murmured Alice, with a little shiver. "Suppose he had jumped into the boat?" "Don't suppose," laughed Russ. "Come!" called Mrs. Maguire from where she had remained near the boat with Ruth. "If we're going, we'd better start." "That's right," agreed Russ. "The sooner we start the quicker we'll get there." The blankets and cushions were arranged in the craft to make comfortable places for the girls and Mrs. Maguire, and then the remains of the food, and the coffee outfit, having been stowed away, Paul and Russ took the oars, and once more the refugees were under way.