He hid a fresh store at another place in the forest, and then he returned to Wareville for a day.

His father greeted him with some constraint, not with coldness exactly, but with lack of understanding.
His mother and his sister wept with joy and Mrs.Ware said: "I was expecting you about this time and you have not disappointed me." He stayed two days and his keen eyes, so observant of material matters, noted that the colony was not doing well for the time, the drought having almost ruined the crops and there was full promise of scanty food and a hard winter.

Now came his opportunity.

He had looked upon his month in the forest as in part a holiday, and he never intended to throw aside all responsibility for others, roving the wilderness absolutely free from care.

He knew that he would have work to do, he felt that he should have it, and now he saw the way to do the kind of work that he loved to do.
He replenished his supply of ammunition, took up his rifle again and returned to the forest.