BY THE SAME AUTHOR

BY THE MARSHES OF MINAS
THE FORGE IN THE FOREST
A SISTER TO EVANGELINE

‘Get off!’ she ordered sharply Page 153

To
L. W. v. U.

CONTENTS

Chapter Page

I. The Watchers of the Trail 1

II. The Cabin in the Clearing 18

III. The Exiles from the Settlement 30

IV. Miranda and the Furtive Folk 46

V. Kroof, the She-bear 64

VI. The Initiation of Miranda 76

VII. The Intimates 88

VIII. Axe and Antler 107

IX. The Pax Mirandæ 121

X. The Routing of the Philistines 133

XI. Miranda and Young Dave 145

XII. Young Dave at the Clearing 162

XIII. Milking-time 173

XIV. Moonlight and Moose-call 187

XV. A Venison Steak 203

XVI. Death for a Little Life 225

XVII. In the Roar of the Rapids 245

XVIII. The Forfeit of the Alien 262

ILLUSTRATIONS

“‘Get off!’ she ordered sharply” Frontispiece

FACING PAGE

“She . . . stood motionless, erect and formidable” 50

“She sprang up, . . . her whole weight straining on the tether” 102

“He ran wildly over the snow patches” 140

“The moose recognized her” 196

“‘Stroke on the right!’ came Dave’s sharp order” 250

THE HEART OF THE ANCIENT WOOD

Chapter I
The Watchers of the Trail

Not indolently soft, like that which sifts in green shadow through the leafage of a summer garden, but tense, alertly and mysteriously expectant, was the silence of the forest. It was somehow like a vast bubble of glass, blown to a fineness so tenuous that a small sound, were it but to strike the one preordained and mystic note, might shatter it down in loud ruin. Yet it had existed there flawless for generations, transmuting into its own quality all such infrequent and inconsequent disturbance as might arise from the far-off cry of the panther, or the thin chirp of the clambering nuthatch, the long, solemn calling of the taciturn moose, twice or thrice repeated under the round October moon, or the noise of some great wind roaring heavily in the remote tops of pine and birch and hemlock. Few and slender were the rays of sun that pierced down through those high tops. The air that washed the endless vistas of brown-green shadow was of a marvellous clarity, not blurred by any stain of dust or vapour. Its magical transparency was confusing to an eye not born and bred to it, making the far branches seem near, and the near twigs unreal, disturbing the accustomed perspective, and hinting of some elvish deception in familiar and apparent things.

The trail through the forest was rough and long unused. In spots the mosses and ground vines had so overgrown it that only the broad scars