“What, again!” said Judah, solemnly. “That makes three times since morning that you’ve been off like a little fury.” “I know it, Judah,” replied the girl, with tears in her eyes, “but you are so tantalizing; you’d make a saint lose her temper, you know you would.” “Oh, well; we shall see--Look, Winona!” he broke off abruptly, pointing excitedly out over the bosom of the lake. Three birds floated in the deep blue ether toward the island. “Gulls!” “No! No! They’re eagles, Judah!” cried the girl, as excited as he. “Sure enough!” exclaimed the boy. The birds swerved, and two flew away toward the mainland. The third dropped into the branches of a maple. “It’s a young eagle, Winona, and I’m going to drop him!” catching up his weapon he leaned forward, perparing to take careful aim. Suddenly there was a puff of smoke that came from behind a bend in the shore just below where they were standing. A dull report followed and the eagle leaped one stroke in the air and dropped like a shot into the waters of the lake. A boat shot out from the beach with two men in it. They picked up the dead bird and then pulled towards the spot where the children stood intently watching them. They came on rapidly, and in a moment the occupants stood on the beach before the surprised children. They were white men, garbed in hunter’s dress. They seemed surprised to see the girl and boy on an apparently uninhabited island, and one said something in a low tone to the other, and motioned toward the crisp head of the boy. They spoke pleasantly, asking the name of the island. Winona shrank behind Judah’s back, glancing shyly at them from beneath the clustering curls that hung about her face. “This island has no name,” said Judah. “Oh, then it is not a part of the Canadian shore?” The questioner eyes the boy curiously. Judah moved his feet uneasily in the pebbles and sand. “Not that I ever heard. It’s just an island.” “Do you live here?” “Yes, over there,” pointing toward the other side. “We’re mighty hungry,” joined in the other man, who had pulled the boat to a safe resting place out of the reach of the incoming tide. “We’ll pay you well for your fish,” he added. “You are welcome to as much as you wish,” replied Judah politely, at once passing over a number of trout and a huge salmon. “Show them our fireplace, Judah,” said Winona, at length finding her tongue. Judah led the way silently toward the sheltered cove where they had constructed a rude fireplace of rocks, and where the things necessary for their comfort during long tramps over their wooded domain, were securely hidden. The children busied themselves with hospitable preparations for a meal, and the men flung themselves down on a bed of dry leaves and moss, lighted their pipes, and furtively watched them. “Likely nigger,” commented one. “Worth five hundred, sure. But the girl puzzles me. What is she?” replied the one who seemed to be the leader.