“I don’t know. It was a desperate step to take. I have a rifle with me. I thought it possible I might come across a deer that would tide us over for a few days.”
“Except one. Mr. and Mrs. Cooper, and their son Tom, a young man, and myself constitute the party.”
“I venture to say you have found what you did not expect.”
“Yes; I never dreamed of finding a man or a human habitation in this out-of-the-way spot.”
“And yet the time may come within twenty-five years when there may be a village in this very spot.”
“I wish it were here now,” sighed Grant. “And if there was one, I wish there might be a restaurant or a baker’s shop handy.”
“I can’t promise you that, but what is more important, I can supply you with provisions.”
As he spoke, he walked to one corner of the dwelling and opened a door, which had not thus far attracted Grant’s attention. There was revealed a small closet. Inside was a cask, which, as Grant could see, was full of crackers, another contained flour, and on a shelf was a large piece of deer meat, which had been cooked, and appealed powerfully to Grant’s appetite, which for four days had been growing, and now was clamoring to be satisfied.
Grant sighed, and over his face came a look of longing.
“Shut the door, quick,” he said, “or I may be tempted to take what does not belong to me.”
“My dear boy,” said the stranger, and over his rugged features came a smile that lighted them up wonderfully; “it is yours. Help yourself.”
Grant took a cracker and ate it quickly. Then he took a knife that lay beside the meat and cut off a slice, which he likewise disposed of. Then he remembered himself.
“I am selfish,” he said. “I am satisfying my appetite, while my poor friends are suffering from hunger.”
“Bring them with you. They shall breakfast with me. Or stay. I will go with you and invite them myself.”
Grant left the cabin with his new friend. As he walked by his side he surveyed him with curiosity and interest. He was a tall man—six feet two, at the least, and he walked with a long stride, which he moderated when he found Grant had trouble to keep up with him. He was dressed in a gray mixed suit, and on his head he wore a soft hat. Despite his appearance and surroundings, Grant was led to think that he had passed a part of his life at least in a city.