"That is hard to say, Sandy; and I can only guess at it. Perhaps, now, they liked the looks of this pretty little casket, which a cabinetmaker once fashioned for our mother when she lived in Jamestown, back in Virginia. But, in the end, it began to get in the way; and, tired of carrying it, the men took out the contents while sitting here by this fire, and threw the box into the bushes." "Never dreaming that the Armstrong boys would come along a day or two later, and find their property again," mused Sandy. "Finding this box seems to tell me that next we will be fortunate enough to run across our wampum belt." "I hope so," was all Bob said, as he turned around, to return to where the rest of the party were busily employed. Great indeed was the surprise of Mr. Armstrong when he saw what the boys had discovered on the very spot where they meant to build their new home. As for the little mother, she took the quaint casket in her hands again with a look that told of renewed hope in her heart. It was all so very remarkable that the final recovery of the lost articles now seemed to lie within the bounds of possibility. The balance of that day was given up to settling themselves as comfortably as they could. Already, the pioneers liked the situation so much that they were unanimously agreed upon staying there permanently. Nowhere could they hope to find a location uniting more natural advantages than here. Long years ago the wandering Indians and white trappers had discovered this fact, as witness their stopping to pitch their camps in the vicinity. It was noted as a country teeming with game, and offering the adventurous settler the finest soil possible. Then there was the great river close at hand, from which considerable of their needed stock of food might be procured--fish the live long year, and ducks and geese during the colder months. Everybody seemed fully satisfied that they could not possibly fare better by continuing on down the river; while there were many chances that they would never run across so splendid a site for a settlement. That night passed peacefully, and, with the advent of another day, operations immediately commenced. They were so wearied of the close confinement aboard the cumbersome flatboat, which had really been overcrowded, that all of them longed to possess their own homes. Humble though these log cabins might be, at least they would prize them highly, with their few possessions giving the interiors the air of home, so dear to the hearts of women the world over. The merry sound of axe blades biting eagerly into the trees could soon be heard. Every head of a family selected the site where he wished to build his cabin. These were so arranged that, while the structures themselves were close together, each had a gradually increasing strip of land running back, which could be quickly cleared, so that a small crop of corn and some vegetables might yet be planted, for the season was not late.