alley, without let-up to their eager speed. The
superstitious dread which had hitherto so afflicted the white men now
fell away from them. Night came on swift and silent, and camp was
pitched on the edge of a dense forest.

Ere the daylight had quite died out the squaw took the two men to the
crest of a hill. She looked out across the virgin carpet of towering
pines below them and pointed with one blanket-covered arm outstretched.
She was silent while she indicated several points in the vast panorama
before her. Then she tried to tell them something.

But her language was the language of her tribe, and neither of the men
could understand her. Then she spoke in the language of signs, which all
Indians speak so well.

She raised her hand, pointing eastward, till it reached a point directly
overhead. Then she pointed to her feet, and her hand moved slowly in a
northern direction, after which she made a running movement with her
feet. Then she bent her body and appeared to be gazing about her,
searching. Finally she pointed to two very large trees which stood out
apart from their fellows. Then again came the motion of running, which
finished quickly, and she pointed first to Nick's face and then to
herself. After that she stood motionless, with arms folded over her
bosom. And the two men read her meaning.

At daylight they were to start out northward and travel until midday.
Then they were to halt and search the outskirts of the forest until they
found two mammoth trees standing apart. The space between them was the
mouth of a pathway into the heart of the forest. They were to traverse
this path a short distance, and they would discover the White Squaw.

Ralph nodded his head slowly in token of comprehension. He waited to see
if she had aught further to say. But the woman remained standing where
she was, slightly aloof and with her arms folded. Her sleepy eyes were
watching the last dying gleam of daylight away in the west. Suddenly,
out upon the still air, came a doleful cry. It was long-drawn-out and
mournful, but it travelled as mountain cries will travel. It came waving
upon the air with a certain rise and fall in it like the rippling of
water. It rose up, up, and then lingeringly died out. The men listened,
and looked in the direction whence it came, and, as they looked, a
feeling of awe swept over them. In a rush the old "dread" awoke, and
their gaze was filled with the expression of it.

Out to the west the for