be fit for travel and habitation.

When he had eaten the rabbit, although he longed for some other kind of
food, he felt better. He had at least furnished fuel for the engine,
and, bending his head to the storm, he left the thicket and continued
his journey, a journey the end of which he could not foresee, as he
never doubted for an instant that the Indian host was still pursuing. He
left no trail, of course, in such a storm, but the rain could not last
forever, and, when it ceased, some warrior would be sure to pick it up
again.

When night came he was thoroughly soaked, save for his precious
ammunition, around which he had wrapped his blanket also. Most of the
snow was gone, but pools stood in every depression, and turbid streams
raced in every gully and ravine. Where he had trodden in snow before he
now trod in mud, and every bone in him ached with weariness. Many a man,
making no further effort, would have lain down and died, but it was not
the spirit of Henry. He continually sought shelter and far in the night
crowded himself into the hollow of a huge decayed tree. He was compelled
to stand in a leaning position, but with the aid of the buffalo coat he
managed to protect himself from further inroads of the rain, and by and
by he actually fell asleep.

The sun was high when he awoke, and he was very stiff and sore from the
awkward manner in which his body had been placed, but the rain had
stopped and for that he was devoutly thankful, although the earth was
sodden from the vast amount of water that had fallen.

It took him three hours to light a fire, so difficult was it to procure
dry shavings, but, in the end, the task was achieved and it was a
glorious triumph. Once more fire was king and he basked in it, drying
his body and his wet clothing thoroughly, and lingering beside it all
the afternoon. But at night he put it out reluctantly, since the
warriors were sure to be abroad now, and he could not risk the light or
the smoke.

He slept under the bushes, but in the morning he saw in the south smoke
answering to smoke, and he did not doubt that it was detachments of the
Indian host signaling to one another. Perhaps they had come upon his
trail, and it was sure, if they had not done so, that they would soon
find it. Watching the signals a little while, he turned and fled once
more into the north.

CHAPTER XIII

THE LEAPING WOLF

Henry came presently into lower ground, where he judged the snowfall h