knees, but covered by his blanket to protect
it from the fine rain, which was not only cold but insidious, trying to
insert itself beneath his clothing and chill his body. But he kept himself
covered so well that none reached him, and the very wildness of his
surroundings increased his sense of intense physical comfort.

He did not stir, except now and then to put a fresh chunk of wood on the
fire, and the red blaze between Tayoga and himself was for a time the
center of the world. The cold, white fog was rolling up everywhere thick
and impenetrable, and the fine rain, like a heavy dew that was distilled
from it, fell incessantly. Robert knew that it was moving up the valleys
and clothing all the peaks and ridges. He knew, too, that it would hide
them from their enemies and his sense of comfort grew with the knowledge.
But his conviction that they were safe did not make him relax caution, and,
since eye was useless in the fog, he made extreme call upon ear.

It seemed to him that the fog was a splendid conductor of sound. It brought
him the rustling of the foliage, the moaning of the light wind through the
ravines, and, at last, another sound, sharp, distinct, a discordant note in
the natural noises of the wilderness, which were always uniform and
harmonious. He heard it a second time, to his right, down the hill, and he
was quite sure that it indicated the presence of man, man who in reality
was near, but whom the fog took far away. The vapors, however, would lift,
then man might come close, and he felt that it was his part to discover who
and what he was.

Still wrapped in the buffalo robe, he rose and took a few steps from the
fire. Tayoga did not stir, and he was proud that his tread had been without
noise. Beyond the rim of firelight, he paused and listening again heard the
clank twice, not very loud but coming sharp and definite as before through
the vapory air. He parted the bushes very carefully and went down the side
of a ravine, the wet boughs and twigs making no noise as they closed up
after his passage.

But his progress was very slow, purposely so, as he knew that any mistake
or accident might be fatal, and he intended that no fault of his should
precipitate such a crisis. Once or twice he thought of going back, deeming
his a foolish quest, lost in a wilderness of bushes and blinding fog, but
the sharp, clear clank stirred his purpose anew, and he went on down the
slope, until he saw a red glow in the he