Matt wants to repay their kindness and their gifts of food but all he has to give is a favorite book, Robinson Crusoe. The man introduces the boy as his grandson, Attean. They have fashioned a crutch for him to enable him to move around. The man has returned, this time with a boy around Matt's age. The next thing Matt knows, he is waking up in his own bed in the cabin with his foot bound up.

He is strangely in afraid and lets the man tend to him. He wonders if he is hallucinating when he sees an old Native American man bending towards him. The bees become an angry swarm and sting Matt badly he leaps from the tree and takes refuge in the creek to escape them but is on a rather bad way.

He decides to climb the tree near the cabin that has a nest of bees living in it so that he can harvest the honey. He finds that eating fish every day is starting to frustrate him and he longs for the taste of something different. His hinting days are now over and he is reliant on his fishing skills for food. In the morning Ben has left before Matt rises he has also stolen Matt's rifle confirming Matt's initial feeling that he should have taken it to bed with him. Ben falls asleep after dinner and Matt feels cross with himself that he did not take his rifle to bed with him in case he needs to protect himself but almost immediately feels guilty for being suspicious. Ben eats heartily and tells some fanciful stories that always cast him in the role of hero, but Matt remains uneasy about him. The man introduces himself as a hungry traveler named Ben conscious that his father would expect him to offer hospitality he invites Ben to eat dinner with him.

When he sees a renegade hunter coming towards the cabin Matt thinks that this is the person who has been watching him. He is a little uneasy feeling that someone might be watching him but that aside acquits himself very well. He had been concerned that time might drag by but finds that there are barely enough hours in the day for all of the tasks he has to accomplish in order to keep the cabin running. This is a big responsibility for a twelve year old boy and Matt is initially apprehensive but after a good night's sleep he begins to enjoy the solitude. Now that the cabin is habitable Matt's father is ready to leave to collect the rest of the family and Matt is going to stay and look after the cabin. Matt and his father have spent the spring building a cabin in the wilderness of Maine where they will be among the first settlers on lands occupied by the native Americans. We are thankful for their contributions and encourage you to make your own. These notes were contributed by members of the GradeSaver community.

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