At supper Ben gave them a dreadful fright when he suddenly ceased eating and, with a look of disgust on his face, cried, “Hear the wind howl!”
The boys rose and darted to the door; but, discovering the hoax, came back to find the guide chuckling gleefully.
“It’s all right, you needn’t worry; there’ll be no wind to-night,” he said; and, greatly relieved by the prophecy, the lads finished their meal in peace.
When they were ready to start, Ben produced a large, open-work iron basket welded to a long iron rod. He said it was to hold the burning pine knots. The guide also carried a small can of kerosene with which to start the fire.
Eagerly the boys followed him to the edge of the lake. To their surprise, he pointed to a log raft on rollers a short distance from the water. Ben declared it to be far safer than the canoe for the work in hand. The boys helped him drag it to the edge of the lake and set it afloat.
Then he fitted the rod with the iron basket, or cage, into a hole in the front end of one of the logs. From the bushes he brought a long push-pole shod on the end with a blunt iron point or “shoe.”
“My, the birds are making an awful racket to-night. I didn’t know they called much after dark,” said Ed, when Ben was arranging the pine knots.
“I’ve been listening to them, too. What are they?” asked George.
Ben laughed softly to himself at the question. Then he turned soberly to address his questioners.
“They are ‘peepers’—birds without feathers.