kind of wild animal that I forgot to mention and I guess we'll be hunting them all right; that's mosquitoes. I guess one or two of you kids had better hit the trail for the nearest village and complete our shopping before we get any further. What do you say? We're a little short on mosquito dope and we ought to have some crackers, and let's see, a little meat would go good. I'm hungry."

When we turned into the woods from the road, we knew that we were coming to a village and I guess that's what put the idea into Harry's head to have somebody go there and get two or three things that we hadn't been able to get in Catskill.

I told him that I'd go, because the rest would be busy getting in fire wood and I said it would be good if two or three of them tried to catch some fish in the brook.

Oh boy, I had hardly said that, when Ralph Warner shouted that he had a perch and that the brook was full of them. Harry Donnelle went over and saw for himself how it was, and then he came back and said to me that as long as there seemed to be plenty of fish I needn't bother about meat, but that I'd better go and see if I could scare up some more mosquito dope and some sinkers for fishing and a trowel to dig bait with, because if we liked the place we might stay there till noon the next day. That's the best way on a long hike-take it easy.

"How about Charlie Seabury?" I said; "he doesn't like fish."

"All right, get him a couple of chops, then," Harry said; "now can you remember all the things you're going to get? Mosquito dope, fishing sinkers, a writing pad and some stamps, and let's see—"

"Some crackers," I said.

"Righto," he shouted after me.

I went back through the woods and when I got to the road I noticed how it curved, and just then I saw a very narrow path on the opposite side of the road that led into the woods. I decided it must be a short cut to the village. So I started along that path.

Pretty soon the woods grew very thick and it wasn't so easy to follow the trail, because it was all overgrown with bushes. But I managed to keep hold of it all right, and after about fifteen minutes I came to a little stone house with the windows all boarded up and the door standing a little open. There was a staple on the door with an old padlock hanging on it, but I guess the padlock wasn't any good. One thing sure, nobody lived there. I went and peeked inside and saw that it wasn't meant for people at all, because there wasn't any floor and it was all dark and damp and there were lots of spider webs around. Even there was one across the doorway, so by that I knew that nobody had been there lately.

Right in the middle, inside, were a couple of rocks and water was trickling up from under them. That's what made me think that the place was just a spring house. Anyway, I didn't wait because I was in a hurry. When I came out I pushed the door open a little and then I closed it all but about a foot or so. Inside of an hour I was mighty sorry that I hadn't left it wide open, and you'll see why.

I guess I had gone about a hundred yards further when I noticed something in the trail that started me guessing. It was the print of an animal; or anyway, if it wasn't, I didn't know what else it was. There were six prints, something like a cat's, only the paw that made them had five toes. The other mark was the paw mark. It was the biggest print that I ever saw.

The first animal I thought about was a wild cat. But of course, I knew there weren't any wild cats right there. Even if there were any in that part of the country, they wouldn't be roaming around near villages. Anyway, the five toe prints had me guessing, because a wild cat has only four. I could see that the animal must have been crossing the path, because the print was sideways and the bushes alongside of the path were kind of trampled down.

You can bet I took a good look in those bushes for hairs, but I couldn't find any and I kept wondering what kind of an animal had a paw as big as a man's hand and five toes.

After I had gone a little further, I came plunk on a whole line of them along the path. I wasn't exactly scared, but anyway, they made me feel sort of funny, because they were so big and printed so plain. The animal that made those tracks must have been a pretty big animal, I knew that.

Then, all of a sudden, I discovered something else. Some of the prints had five toe marks and some of them only four. "Maybe that means the animal was lame," I said to myself, and doesn't make a full print with one of its feet. But in a minute I had sense enough to see that wasn't the way it was, because there were always two of one kind pretty close together and then two of the other kind pretty close together. This is the way it was; there was a five toe print then another one about a foot in back of it, then about three or four feet in back of that a couple more about a foot apart with only four toe marks.

Good night! I They had me all flabbergasted.

Pretty soon they left the path altogether and I looked in the bushes for hairs, but I couldn't find a single one.

"Anyway," I said to myself, "one thing sure, that animal has five toes on his front feet and only four on his hind feet and I never saw any tracks like that before or even pictures of them."

I wasn't exactly scared, but just the same I was kind of glad when I got to the village.

Anyway, that was the smallest village I ever saw to have such big tracks right near it. All I could see was two houses and the post office, and the post office was so small that you could almost put your arm down the chimney and open the front door. But, one thing sure, you could buy everything you wanted in that post office. You could buy a plough or a lollypop or anything. It smelled kind of like corn inside.

I got some lead sinkers and some crackers and a couple of chops for Charlie Seabury, because it makes him thirsty to eat fish—that's what he says. The man didn't have any mosquito dope, but there were some boxes of fly paper on the counter and just happened to think that if we stayed in our bivouac camp the next morning, it might be good to have some on account of the flies at dinner time. So I bought a box full.

Then I said to the man, "I guess there are wild animals around here."

He said, "Wall, I reckon thar daon't be many no more. Yer ain't expectin' ter catch 'em with fly paper, be yer?"

"Just the same," I told him, "I saw the tracks of one that must be big enough to eat this whole village. You'd better put the village in the safe before you go home. Safety first." You can bet I know how to jolly if it comes to jollying. "I want to get some rope, too," I told him.

He just leaned back and pushed his great big straw hat to the back of his head and looked over his spectacles and began to grin. He kept his spectacles 'way down near the end of his nose.

"Ye're one of them scaouts, hey?" he said. "Yet ain't thinkin' to lead any elephants home with that thar rope naow, be yer?"

I said, "No, I'm going to use the rope to lasso mosquitoes as long as you haven't got any mosquito dope."

He said, "Wall naow, ye're quite a comic be'nt yer?"

I told him I was a little cut up and my mother and father couldn't do anything with me.

"'N what else can I do fer yer?" he said, laughing all the while. "Them tracks wuz caow tracks, youngster, so daon't yer be sceered of 'em."

I told him I wasn't scared of any tracks, not even a railroad track and that I'd buy the village for seventy-five cents, if he'd send it C. O. D. He just stood there laughing. Anyway, it makes me mad when grown up people jolly scouts about tracking and signaling and all that, just as if it was only play. Because what do