height of nearly three
miles. He could well believe it, as he looked north and south to
tremendous peaks with white domes, standing like vast, silent sentinels
in the sky. They were majestic to him, but not terrifying, because they
held out the promise of safety.

"If the worst came to the worst, could we live up there on one of those
slopes, a while?" he asked.

"Do you mean by that could we find game enough?" said Boyd.

"Game and shelter both."

"We could. Like as not the mountain deer are plentiful. And there's a
kind of buffalo called the wood bison, even bigger than the regular
buffalo of the plains, not often found south of Canada, but to be met
with now and then in our country. We might run across one of them, and
he'd supply meat enough to feed an army. Besides, there are bears and
deer and smaller game. Oh, we'd make out, wouldn't we, Tom?"

"We shorely would," replied the Little Giant, "but between you an' me
an' the gate post, Jim, I think I see somethin' movin' on the slope
acrost thar to the right. Young William, take your glasses an' study
that spot whar the bushes are so thick."

"I can just barely make out the figures of men among the bushes,"
announced Will, after a good look.

"Then they're Indians," said Boyd with emphasis. "You wouldn't find
white men lurking here in the undergrowth. It's a fresh band, hunters
maybe, but dangerous just the same. We'd better push on for all we're
worth."

They urged forward the horses and mules, seeking cover in the deep
forest along the slope, but without success, as a faint yell soon told
them. At the suggestion of Boyd, they stopped and examined the ground.
The way was steadily growing steeper and more difficult, and the
warriors, who were on foot could make greater speed than the fugitives.

"Lend me your glasses a minute, young William," said the Little Giant.

But he did not turn the lenses upon the Indians. Instead, he looked
upward.

"Thar's a narrow pass not fur ahead," he said. "I think we'd better draw
into it an' make a stand. The pass is deep, an' they can't assail us on
either flank. It will have to be a straight-away attack."

"That's lucky, mighty lucky," said Boyd with heartfelt thankfulness.
"Will, you push on with the animals, and maybe if you look back you'll
see that what I told you about Giant Tom's sharpshooting is true."

Will hurried the horses and mules ahead, following a shallow dip that
was the outlet of the deep pass they