At first it was only a shadow, then it might have been a rock,
and then the gulp in his throat leaped out in a shout when he saw that
Wabigoon's sharp eyes had in truth discovered the old cabin of the
map. For what else could it be? What else but the wilderness home of
the adventurers whose skeletons they had found, Peter Plante and Henri
Langlois, and John Ball, the man whom these two had murdered?

Rod's joyous voice was like the touch of fire to Wabi's enthusiasm and
in a moment the oppressive silence of their journey down the chasm was
broken by the wild cheers which the young gold seekers sent echoing
between the mountains. Grimacing and chuckling in his own curious way,
Mukoki was already slipping along the edge of the rock, seeking some
break by which he might reach the lower chasm. They were on the point
of turning to the ascent of the mountain, along which they would have
to go until they found such a break, when the old pathfinder directed
the attention of his companions to the white top of a dead cedar stub
projecting over the edge of the precipice.

"Go down that, mebby," he suggested, shrugging his shoulders to
suggest that the experiment might be a dangerous one.

Rod looked over. The top of the stub was within easy reach, and the
whole tree was entirely free of bark or limbs, a fact which in his
present excitement did not strike him as especially unusual. Swinging
his rifle strap over his shoulders he reached out, caught the slender
apex of the stub, and before the others could offer a word of
encouragement or warning was sliding down the wall of the rock into
the chasm. Wabi was close behind him, and not waiting for Mukoki's
descent the two boys hurried toward the cabin. Half-way to it Wabi
stopped.

"This isn't fair. We've got to wait for Muky."

They looked back. Mukoki was not following. The old warrior was upon
his knees at the base of the dead tree, as though he was searching for
something among the rocks at its foot. Then he rose slowly, and rubbed
his hands along the stub as high as he could reach. When he saw that
Rod and Wabi were observing him he quickly came toward them, and
Wabigoon, who was quick to notice any change in him, was confident
that he had made a discovery of some kind.

"What have you found, Muky?"

"No so ver' much. Funny tree," grunted the Indian.

"Smooth as a fireman's brass pole," added Rod, seeing no significance
in Mukoki's words. "Listen!"

He stopped so sudden