no shot been fired, but the bear was
deliberate and free from apprehension. Then like lightning came a third
thought. The bear had come in some providential way to save him. It had
been sent by the greater powers.

There was something almost human in the gaze of the bear and Henry could
never persuade himself afterward that its look did not have
understanding. It began to withdraw slowly through the thicket, and,
rising up, taking his rifle, blanket and supplies, he followed. A
strange feeling seized him. He was transported out of himself. He
believed that the miraculous was going to happen. And it happened.

The bear led ten or fifteen feet ahead, and then turned sharply to the
right, where apparently it would come up dead against the blank stone
wall of the hill. But it turned to look once at Henry and disappeared in
the wall. He stood in amazement, but followed nevertheless. Then he saw.
There was a narrow cleft in the stone, the entrance to which was
completely hidden by three or four bushes growing closely together. The
wariest eye would have passed over it a hundred times without seeing it,
but the bear had gone in without hesitation, and now Henry, parting the
bushes, went in, too.

He found a ravine not more than three feet wide that seemed to lead
completely through the hill. The foliage met above it, and it was dark
there, but he saw well enough to make his way. He could also trace the
dim figure of the bear shambling on ahead, and his heart made a violent
leap as he realized that in very truth and fact he was being led out of
the Indian ring. Chance or intent? What did it matter? Who was he to
question when favors were showered upon him? It was merely for him to
take the gifts the greater powers gave, and, with voiceless thanks, he
followed the lead of the animal which shambled steadily ahead.

The narrow ravine, or rather crack in the stone, might have ended
against a wall, or it might have led up to the crest of the hill where
Indian warriors lay watching, but he knew that it would do neither. He
felt with all the certainty of actual knowledge that it would go on
until it came out on the far side of the circling hills, and beyond the
Indian ring.

He walked a full mile, his dumb guide leading faithfully. Sometimes the
ravine widened a little, but always the foliage met overhead, and he was
never able to catch more than glimpses of the sky. At last the width
increased steadily, and then he came out into