Bond awoke the next morning feeling completely refreshed. He promptly showered and dressed before stepping into the small kitchen where he would prepare the breakfast he had anticipated the night before. He did so and sat down at the small breakfast table to eat. He was quite proud of himself, actually. He confided to himself that it was not quite as good as that prepared by May, his housekeeper, but then again, no one could fry bacon quite as perfectly as she could.

When Bond had eaten, he put on his shoes and started out the front door on his way to the boathouse where he would set off for the other side of the lake. However, just as he stepped outside, the thought of leaving the empty cabin behind set off an alarm from his carefully honed instincts. No one else was around. What would be the point? Partly to amuse himself and partly because he had become so accustomed to doing so, Bond decided to set a few invisible traps to detect if anyone entered the cabin while he was gone. He felt almost silly doing so, but then again he thought, “Why not?” Bond carefully plucked away four hairs from the top of his head. With the first he wet it slightly in his mouth and then delicately placed it on the window sill of the bedroom where the window pane came down against it. If the window remained closed, the hair would be unmoved when he returned. However, if it were not in its same location, he would know there had been an intruder. He did the same to the two windows in the dining room and kitchen before stepping outside. With the door pulled closed behind him, he placed the final hair at the top of the door where it met the jam.

Bond walked down the three steps from the front porch, then looked back at the cabin. He considered the fact that this simple trick had prepared him for many would-be surprises, and had saved his life on more than one occasion. He turned away and walked briskly down the hill to the boathouse, anxious to spend some time on the lake and see what might be on the other side.

At the boathouse, Bond was less impressed with the condition of the boat than he had been the day before. The boat was a two-seater, and both had rips and tears apparently from years of use or neglect. Several scratches and some rust were visible especially on one side of the boat’s shell. Bond saw that the key was in the ignition so he stepped into the boat and gave it a turn. The engine sputtered, but would not start. As one naturally does, Bond looked at the fuel indicator and saw that the needle was below the “E”. He sighed, “Great.” Looking around the small building, he saw a large metal fuel can in the corner, and stepped up out of the boat to retrieve it. It was full. He poured the five gallons into the tank, set the can to the side, and again turned the key. The engine started up perfectly, and Bond said, “Wonderful! One challenge presented; one challenge resolved. If only all of my luck could be this good!” Bond slowly steered the boat out of the boathouse as he became familiar with the controls. When he was twenty feet from shore, he felt free to put the pedal to the floor and see what the boat could do.

Two hours later, the mid-day sun was at its peak. Bond had spent much of his time simply drifting with the current. Occasionally he would start up the engine and find a new place in which to drift, but he had no place to go and was in no hurry to get there. But now the heat of the sun convinced him it was time for a change of scenery. He started up the engine, and headed for the shoreline that was most distant from the cabin. It was perhaps three miles away from the cabin, but because of the curving shape of the land surrounding the lake the cabin was no longer in view. He found a cleared section of land on which he could ground the boat, and a tree to which he could tie it off.

As Bond looked around, he noticed something almost imperceptibly different about this side of the lake. “What is it?”, Bond asked himself. He heard birds flying overhead, the trees gently rustling in the light breeze, the rippling of the water as it met the shoreline. No, it was none of that. Somehow it was not as serene as at the cabin. Better yet, it didn’t provide the same solitary feeling that he had at the cabin. Brushing aside any further thoughts on the subject, Bond walked to the edge of the trees, found himself a good walking stick, and proceeded into the trees.