't be worth the trouble," he said to himself, in the middle of a
yawn. "Plenty of crystals, but the wrong sort--ice crystals--won't
keep."

It only seemed to be the next minute that he was sitting up in the
darkness listening and realising that he had been asleep. He had been
dreaming, he was sure, but had not the least idea what about; and all he
knew now was that he was hot and thirsty.

He rose and quietly unfastened the little canvas fold which served as a
door, and went out to find the kettle and have a good draught of water;
but it was so mawkishly warm, that he turned from it in disgust, and
began to ascend higher to where the little fall came, down, with its
pure, icily cold stream.

The night was glorious, and as he looked up he felt that he had never
seen so many or such large stars before. So grandly was the arch of
heaven bespangled, that he stopped to gaze upward for a few minutes,
till, the sensation of thirst growing more acute, he went on, with the
towering wall of rock to right and left, and the moist odour of the
falling water saluting his nostrils, as he went close up to where one
tiny thread of water fell bubbling into a rocky basin, edged with moss--
the spot where water was obtained for regular use, its crystal purity
tempting the thirsty to drink.

Saxe placed a hand on the rock on either side, bent down till his lips
touched the surface, and then drank with avidity, every draught being
delicious.

"Make any fellow sleep," he said to himself, as he raised his head; and
he was in the act of passing his hand across his wet lips, when he
became suddenly petrified, and stood there motionless, gazing straight
before him at a hideous object, apparently not a yard away. It looked
misty and dim in the semi-darkness, but plain enough for the boy to see
apparently a huge head resting in a pair of hands, which held the chin
and pressed up the long loose cheeks on either side, curving up the
monstrous mouth into a ghastly grin. The forehead was low, and the
eyebrows were shaggy, while from beneath them glared into his a great
pair of glowing eyes, that flashed at times and sparkled in the
starlight, which rained down on and through a bush of dark, tangled
hair, a portion of which hung below the head on either side, and stood
out wildly around.

There was no movement but in the eyes, and these literally held the boy,
so that for a time he could do nothing but stare at the horrible-looking
object,