Ralph went off on a hunting expedition, but Herbert remained behind, fearing that he might tear or stain his clothes, of which it was necessary, now, to be careful.  How to pass the time was the question.  To tell the truth, the hunter’s cabin contained little that would help him.  There were no books visible, for Ralph seemed to have discarded everything that would remind him of that civilization which he had forsaken in disgust.

Herbert went outside, and watched the squirrels that occasionally made their appearance flitting from branch to branch of the tall trees.  After a while his attention was drawn to a bird, which flew with something in its beak nearly to the top of a tall tree not far off.

“I shouldn’t wonder,” thought Herbert, interested, “if she’s got a nest, and some young ones up there.  I have a great mind to climb up and see whether she has or not.”

He measured the tree with his eye.  It was very tall, exceeding in its height most of its forest neighbors.

“I don’t know as I can climb it,” he said to himself, a little doubtfully; “but anyway, I am going to try.  There’s nothing like trying.”

This was a lucky determination for Herbert, as will speedily appear.

It was twenty feet to the first branching off, and this was, of course, the most difficult part of the ascent, since it was necessary to “shin up,” and the body of the tree was rather too large to clasp comfortably.  However, it was not the first time that Herbert had climbed a tree, and he was not deficient in courage as well as skill.  So he pushed on his way, and though once or twice in danger of falling, he at length succeeded in reaching the first bough.  From this point the ascent was comparatively easy.

In a short time our hero was elated to find himself probably fifty feet from the ground, so high it made him feel a little dizzy to look down.  He reached the nest, and found the young birds—­three in number.  The parent bird hovered near by, evidently quite alarmed for the safety of her brood.  But Herbert had no intention of harming them.  He only climbed up to gratify his curiosity, and because he had nothing more important to do.  Though he did not know it, his own danger was greater than that which threatened the birds.  For, just at that moment, Mr. Holden, in his wanderings, had reached Ralph’s cabin, and Herbert, looking down, beheld, with some anxiety, the figure of the unwelcome visitor.  He saw Abner enter the cabin, and, after a few moments’ interval, issue from it with an air of disappointment and dissatisfaction.

“How lucky,” thought our hero, “that he did not find me inside!”

Abner Holden looked about him in every direction but the right one.  He little dreamed that the object of his pursuit was looking down upon him, securely, from above.

“I don’t think he’ll find me,” thought Herbert.  “Wouldn’t he give something, though, to know where I am?”