ird's
note fell upon our ears. Once a faint, whistling sound came from the
far distance, that was all; and Esau went up to the biggest fir-tree
whose trunk was clear of boughs, and he was about to use his knife, when
we both jumped away from the tree. For from close at hand came a sharp,
clear tap, as if somebody had touched the ground with a light cane.

"What's that?" whispered Esau, with his eyes staring, and his mouth
partly opened.

I shook my head.

"Some one a-watching us," he whispered. "Here, let's dive right in
among the trees and see."

But I held his arm, and we stood in that beautiful wild ravine,
listening to the rippling of the water, and peering in among the tall
pines, expecting to see the man who had made the sound.

"I say," whispered Esau, "I can't see or hear anything. Ain't it rather
rum?"

He said "rum," but he looked at me as if he thought it very terrible,
with the consequence that his fear was contagious, and I began to feel
uncomfortable as we kept looking at each other.

"Shall we run?" whispered Esau.

At another time such an idea would not have occurred to him. The forest
and the streams that run up the valleys were always solitary, but we
felt no particular dread when going about, unless we saw the footmarks
of bears. But now that we were in possession of the secret of the gold,
the same idea of our being watched impressed us both, and we turned cold
with fear, and all because we had heard that faint blow on the ground.

I don't know whether I looked pale as I stood by Esau, when he asked me
if we should run, but I do know that the next moment I felt utterly
ashamed of myself, and in the reaction--I suppose to conceal my shame
for my cowardice--I struck Esau heavily on the shoulder and made a false
start.

"Run--run--the Fort!" I cried. Esau bounded off, and I hung back
watching him till he turned to see me standing there laughing, when he
stopped short, looking at me curiously, and then came slowly to where I
was.

"What did you say run for?" he cried, angrily.

"You asked me if you should," I replied.

"Then there ain't no one coming?"

"No."

"What a shame!" he cried. "It's too bad."

"Yes, for us to be frightened at nothing. Do you know what that noise
was?"

"No, I don't know."

"It was a squirrel dropped a nut or a fir-cone. Why, it's just the same
noise as you hear in the country at home when they drop an acorn."

"Then why didn't you say so? I