avine leading into the depths of the maze. The
wind followed them into the cleft and steadily grew colder. The
glowing terraces in the west broke up, faded quite away, and night, as
yet without stars, spread over the earth.

Tayoga was in front, the other two following him in single file,
stepping where he stepped, and leaving to him without question the
selection of a place where they could stay. The Onondaga, guided by
long practice and the inheritance from countless ancestors who had
lived all their lives in the forest, moved forward with confidence.
His instinct told him they would soon come to such a refuge as they
desired, the rocky uplift about him indicating the proximity of many
hollows.

The darkness increased, and the wind swept through the chasms with
alternate moan and whistle, but the red youth held on his course for
a full two miles, and his comrades followed without a word. When the
cliffs about them rose to a height of two or three hundred feet, he
stopped, and, pointing with a long forefinger, said he had found what
they wished.

Robert at first could see nothing but a pit of blackness, but
gradually as he gazed the shadows passed away, and he traced a deep
recess in the stone of the cliff, not much of a shelter to those
unused to the woods, but sufficient for hardy forest runners.

"I think we may build a little fire in there," said Tayoga, "and no
one can see it unless he is here in the ravine within ten feet of us."

Willet nodded and Robert joyfully began to prepare for the blaze. The
night was turning even colder than he had expected, and the chill
was creeping into his frame. The fire would be most welcome for its
warmth, and also because of the good cheer it would bring. He swept
dry leaves into a heap within the recess, put upon them dead wood,
which was abundant everywhere, and then Tayoga with artful use of
flint and steel lighted the spark.

"It is good," admitted the hunter as he sat Turkish fashion on the
leaves, and spread out his hands before the growing flames. "The
nights grow cold mighty soon here in the high hills of the north, and
the heat not only loosens up your muscles, but gives you new courage."

"I intend to make myself as comfortable as possible," said Robert.
"You and Tayoga are always telling me to do so and I know the advice
is good."

He gathered great quantities of the dry leaves, making of them what
was in reality a couch, upon which he could recline in halfwa