and he must
replenish them in some manner before proceeding further.

A spirit even as bold and strong as Henry's might well have despaired.
He had found his comrades, only to lose them again, and the danger that
had threatened them, and the elements as well, now threatened him, too.
An acute judge of sky and air, he knew that the rain, cold, insistent,
penetrating, would fall all day, and that he must seek shelter if he
would keep his strength. The Indians themselves always took to cover at
such times.

He wrapped the blanket around himself, covering his body well from neck
to ankle, putting his rifle just inside the fold, but with his hand
upon it, ready for instant use if it should be needed. Then he started,
walking straight ahead until he came to the crown of a little hill.
The clouds meanwhile thickened, and the rain, of the kind that he had
foreseen and as cold as ice, was blown against him. The grass and bushes
were reeking, and his moccasins became sodden. Despite the vigorous
walking, lie felt the wet cold entering his system. There come times
when the hardiest must yield, and he saw the increasing need of refuge.

He surveyed the country attentively from the low hill. All around was a
dull gray horizon from which the icy rain dripped everywhere. There was
no open country. All was forest, and the heavy rolling masses of foliage
dripped with icy water, too.

Toward the south the land seemed to dip down, and Henry surmised that in
a valley he would be more likely to find the shelter that he craved. He
needed it badly. As he stood there he shivered again and again from
head to foot, despite the folds of the blanket. So he started at once,
walking fast, and feeling little fear of a foe. It was not likely that
any would be seeking him at such a time. The rain struck him squarely
in the face now. Water came from his moccasins every time his foot was
pressed against the earth, and, no matter how closely he drew the folds
of the blanket, little streams of it, like ice to the touch, flowed down
his neck and made their way under his clothing. He could not remember a
time when he had felt more miserable.

He came in about an hour to the dip which, as he had surmised, was the
edge of a considerable valley. He ran down the slope, and looked all
about for some place of shelter, a thick windbreak in the lee of a hill,
or an outcropping of stone, but he saw neither, and, as he continued
the search, he came to marshy gro