Page:Cornelia Meigs-The Pirate of Jasper Peak.djvu/249

 “I will show you,” returned the other.

He opened the door into the main room and went in, Hugh following, filled with curiosity and  wonder. As they crossed the cabin, he caught Oscar’s sleeve and began to tell him of Half-Breed Jake.

“We will speak of that later,” was the answer. “Put on your coat, come quickly.”

They went outside into the clear, glittering cold: how good it seemed after the close, dark  little shack! Oscar led Hugh across the clearing, in the opposite direction from his own house,  along the ridge that ran down to the lake. The sun was very bright, the air absolutely still. He stopped where the ground was so open that they  could see out across the forest.

“Look,” he said, and pointed.

Crowning the top of the next hill stood a giant pine that towered high above its fellows. As Hugh watched, its branches commenced to tremble, although never a breath of wind was stirring. The whole tree began to rock and sway, to bow forward as though shaken by a furious gale; then