it warm.

It was but a cold and bleak refuge for all save the hardiest, and
for a little while Robert had to use his last ounce of will to save
himself from discouragement. But vigorous exertion and keen interest
in the future brought back his optimism. The hide of the deer they had
slain was spread at once upon the cave floor and made a serviceable
rug. They spoke hopefully of soon adding to it.

A brook flowed less than a hundred yards away, and they would have
no trouble about their water supply, while the country about seemed
highly favorable for game. But on their first day there they did not
do any hunting. They rolled several large stones before the door of
their new home, making it secure against any prying wild animals, and
then, after a hearty meal, they wrapped themselves in their blankets
and slept prodigiously.

Tayoga went into the forest the next day and set traps and snares,
while Robert worked in the valley, breaking up fallen wood to be used
for fires, and doing other chores. The Onondaga in the next three or
four days shot a large panther, a little bear, and caught in the traps
and snares a quantity of small game. The big pelts and the little
pelts, after proper treatment, were spread upon the floor or hung
against the walls of the cave, which now began to assume a much more
inviting aspect, and the flesh of the animals that were eatable, cured
after the primitive but effective processes, was stored there also.

Providence granted them a period of good weather, days and nights
alike being clear and cold. The game, evidently not molested for a
long time, fairly walked into their traps, and they were compelled to
draw but little upon their precious supply of ammunition. Food for the
future accumulated rapidly, and the floor and walls of the cave were
soon covered entirely with furs.

Not one of the numerous caves and hollows about them contained an
occupant and Robert wondered if their presence would frighten away the
wild animals, so many of which had hibernated there so often. Yet he
had a belief that the bears would come. His present mode of life and
his isolation from the world gave him a feeling almost of kinship with
them, and in some strange way, and through some medium unknown to him,
they might reciprocate. He and Tayoga had killed several bears, it was
true, but far from the cave, and they made up their minds to molest
nothing in the valley or just about it.

It was a land of many wate